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THE 

PATRIOT'S CATECHISM; 

i 

OR, 

THE DITTIES OF RULERS AND RULED, 

IN 

A SERIES OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS, 
on 



BY D. MACAULAY. 



XvTTH AN INTRODUCTION BY THE REV, WM. V.7LS0N, A,M«j 
PRE8IDENT OF RICHMOND COLLEGE, 



1 1 love my country— because I love my God, j; —Dr, AfcIeo<f ; 



WASHINGTON ; 

PRINTED BY THOMAS ALLEN, 

1843, 



RECOMMENDATIONS. 



From the Hon. Jeremiah Morrow, 31. C. 

Washington, D. C, January 3, 1843. 

Sir: Your " Patriot's Catechism" is, in my 
opinion, well calculated for extensive usefulness. 
The subject you discuss is highly important, and 
of general interest. An enlightened and active 
patriotism is the conservatory principle in our re- 
publican institutions. It is the main prop to our 
political fabric. 

From the cursory perusal which I have been 
enabled to give to your Catechism, I think it can 
not fail to insure public attention, and patronage. 
Wishing you merited success in your efforts to 
benefit the community, 

I am, respectfully yours, &c. 

JEREMIAH MORROW. 

Rev. Dr. Macaulay. 



From the Rev. W. B. Edwards, of Washington. 

Washington, D. C, January 4, 1843. 
Dear Sir: In my judgment, your "Patriot's 
Catechism" is a work which richly merits public 



Vlll 

principles set forth in your Catechism, and faith- 
fully carry them out in practice, should be the 
ardent prayer of every true patriot of his country. 

I remain, with sentiments of high respect, your 
obedient and obliged servant, 

HORACE STRINGFELLOW: 

Rev. Dr. Macaulay. 



From the Rev. Charles Rich. 

Washington City, January 17, 1843. 

Dear Sir : I have been exceedingly gratified 
with your " Catechism of Patriotism," as read to 
me in the manuscript. It is the very work that we 
need in every family, and in every school. Oar 
children are left too much to " guess at" rather than 
to know what true patriotism is, in what it con- 
sists, and how it may be cultivated. If the youth 
of our land, as they grow up into manhood can be 
learned to imbody in their lives, the truths advanced 
in. your Catechism, the next generation will be 
truly styled " a nation of patriots." 

Wishing you every success in the publication of 
this work, and hoping that it may have an exten- 
sive circulation and faithful study throughout our 
country, I remaim your obedient servant, 

CHARLES RICH, 
Pastor First Presbyterian Church. 

Rev. Dr. Macaulay. 



From the Rev. Septimus 'fusion, Chaplain of 
" United States Senate." 

Washington City, D. C. Jan'y 25, 1843. 

Rev. and Dear Sir : The opportunity I have 
enjoyed of becoming acquainted with the spirit 
and design of your " Catechism of Patriotism," en- 
ables me to speak with confidence of its merits. 
The idea of such a work is entirely new, so far as 
my knowledge extends, and therefore, in connex. 
ion with its intrinsic value, it presents the addi- 
tional claim of originality. It should be thorough- 
ly understood by " rulers and ruled," that amid 
all our external indications of augmenting strength 
and prosperity as a nation, Religion is the great 
conservative principle by which our institutions 
are to be perpetuated, and he is a true friend to his 
country who contributes to the dissemination of 
this sentiment. In my judgment your Catechism 
is eminently calculated to subserve this most im- 
portant end ; and I feel that I am evincing my 
amor patrice, when I express my sincere desire for 
the success of your undertaking. 

Sincerely do I pray, that the God of our Fathers, 
may continue to us his heavenly patronage, and 
that our ingratitude may not provoke him to with- 
hold from us the civil and religious blessings 
which we enjoy, or induce him to transfer them to 
so*ie other nation more worthy, because more 
grateful. 



X 



Very respectfully, your friend and obedient ser- 
vant, SEPTIMUS TUSTON, 
Rev. Dr. Macaulay, 



From the Hon. William C. Rives, Senator from 
Virginia. 

Senate Chamber, 
Washington, February 8, 1843. 

Dear Sir: I have glanced, with much inter- 
est, at the few pages you have submitted to me of 
a manual for American youths, which you propose 
to publish, under the title of the " Patriot's Cate- 
chism." 

The work is conceived in the spirit of enlightened 
and conscientious patriotism, which it so earnestly 
inculcates, and can not fail, if its lessons be duly stu- 
died, to defend the rising generation from the con- 
tagion of that fatal spirit of demagoguism, which is 
the most deadly foe of republican liberty. 1 see in 
it a faithful application and development of those 
invaluable maxims of political morality, which 
were consecrated and embalmed, for perpetual re- 
memberance, in the " Farewell Address" of the 
Father of his Country ; and I sincerely wish that all 
honor and success may crown your labors, so praise- 
worthy, both in their motive and their execution. 

I have the honor to be, with great respect, your 
most obedient servant, W. C. RIVES. 

Rev. Dr. Macaulay. 



XI 

From the Rev. James Laurie, D. Z)., Washington. 

Washington, D. C, February 6, 1843. 

My Dear Sir : From those portions of " The 
Patriot's Catechism" which I have myself read, 
and from those which you read to me, I have form- 
ed a highly favorable opinion of the work. The 
sentiments it inculcates respecting the nature of true 
Patriotism, and the necessity of Religion to its ex- 
ercise, to its very existence — as the stock on which 
it must grow and flourish, are clearly and strongly 
exhibited and enforced in the " Catechism. 5 ' The 
mode employed too for conveying the important in- 
struction which your book contains, is well calcula- 
ted to present it to the reader in the greatest simpli- 
city, and in the most attractive form, and to impress 
it the more deeply on the mind — especially of the 
young. It will be introduced, I trust, into our 
schools and academies to aid our youth in acquir- 
ing correct ideas of Patriotism, and aspiring after 
that honorable fame which is the result of patriotic 
deeds. 

To all that is said in the masterly u Introduc- 
tion" to the work, by President Wilson, I cheer- 
fully subscribe. 

I am, my dear sir, yours very truly, 

JAMES LAURIE, 
Pastor F street Church, 

Rev. Dr. Macaulay, Washington, 



Xll 

From the Hon. Thomas H. Benton, Senator from 
Missouri. 

Washington City , February 7, 1843. 

Mr. Benton returns to Dr. Macaulay, with his 
best compliments, the proof-sheets and manuscript 
which he has been so polite as to send him. 

Mr. B. has ran his eye over these papers, and 
sees a great deal to approve, and to interest him both 
in the plan, and in the execution. u The Patriot's 
Catechism" as conceived and executed by the 
Doctor, is admirably calculated to supply a want 
which has long been felt in our country. 

Rev. Dr. Macaulay. 



F)om the Hon. J. C. Calhoun, Senator from 
South Carolina. 

Washington, January 6, 1843. 

Dear Sir : I have received your note, in which 
you request me to express my opinion of a work 
you intend to publish, called " The Patriot's 
Catechism" and the " Duties of Rulers and Ruled. " 

My numerous engagements have prevented me 
from giving it more than a hasty examination, but 
it has been sufficient to impress me favorably. The 
work appears to me to be well executed, and the 



xiii 

sentiments and doctrines it inculcates correct; and 
I do not doubt, that its publication will have a ben- 
eficial effect in a moral, as well as political point of 
view. 

With great respect, I am, &c, &c. 

JOHN C. CALHOUN, 
Rev. Dr. D. Macaulay, Washington, 



From the Hon. John McLean, one of the Judges 
of the Supreme Court* 

Washington, February 8, 1843, 
Sir : The cursory examination I have given of 
your " Patriot's Catechism," now in course of pub- 
lication, has produced in me no common solicitude 
to see it published, and widely circulated. In a 
condensed form, and in a style of great perspicuity 
and force, you exhibit truths which lie at the 
foundation of our government, and which must be 
practically enforced to perpetuate it. 

Liberty is the price of untiring vigilance : and 
there can be no rational liberty without intelligence, 
virtue, and patriotism. Virtue and patriotism, there- 
fore, should be inculcated in our schools, so as to 
constitute a part of the education of every youth, 



XIV 

Your book will be admirably adapted to this high 
purpose; and I hope to see it introduced into all 
our schools. 

With great respect, I am your obedient servant, 

JOHN McLEAN. 

Rev. Dr. Macaulay, Washington. 



From Edward C. Delavan, Esq. 

Ballston Centre, N. Y., Feb. 3, 1843. 
Dear Sir: With your letter of the 17th alt. 
came the prospectus of a work you are about pre- 
paring for the press, entitled, " The Patriot's Cat- 
echism." I was pleased to see the announcement 
of such a work ; put me down for forty copies. I 
shall want to distribute them among the youth of my 
neighborhood. There is much talk about patriot- 
ism. I suppose that there are some who claim to 
be patriots, who, if closely catechised by a true 
patriot, might come considerably short. While in 
London several years since, a Rev. Doctor of di- 
vinity while taking a glass of the strong brandied 
wine of commerce, said, " ldo not feel called upon 
to give up my glass of wine because other men 
make beasts of themselves." I have not a doubt 
that the Rev. D. D. thought himself a Patriot, al- 
though London at the time contained 100,000 
drunkards ; and made so ; and continued so by the 



XV 

very kind of drink he would not abandon even to 
save these 100,000 drunkards. Was this man a 
Patriot ? I trust your forthcoming work will answer 
this question. I once knew a rum dealer — he was 
a General too, and talked loudly of patriotism, love 
of country, &c, &c. ; but when urged to abandon 
the sale of rum — that his neighborhood might not 
any longer be filled with crime and pauperism — 
that the children then coming upon the stage might 
not follow in the footsteps of many of their fathers, 
a nd go down to drunkenness as they had done, re- 
plied : u No ; I will continue to sell rum should all 
other rum-sellers abandon the sale." If such a man 
is a patriot I trust you will be able to make it man- 
ifest in your forthcoming work. It is out of my 
power to answer your inquiry correctly as to the 
number of youth in this and other States who have 
adopted the total abstinence principle. But I be- 
lieve in this and all the New England States, it is 
now quite an unusual occurrence to find a youth 
in the habitual use of intoxicating liquors, especially 
out of cities or large towns : and I think you will 
agree with me in the opinion that these cold water 
youth, as they arrive at manhood, and enter upon 
the business of life, will make as good citizens, and 
as good patriots, as those other youth who, in obedi- 
ence to certain fashion or appetite, continue in the 
use of those base intoxicating compounds sold un- 



XVI 

der the name of wine, but mainly indebted to the 
still for their strength, and the drug shop for their 
flavor. 

I am, dear sir, truly yours, 

EDWARD C. DELAVAN. 
Rev. Dr. Macaulat. 



From the Hon, N. P. Talltnadge, Senator from 
New York. 

Senate Chamber, February 10, 1843. 
Dear Sir : I have hastily examined the proof- 
sheets submitted to me of the " Patriot's Cate- 
chism," which you are about to publish. From 
that examination I am favorably impressed with 
the principles set forth, and the manner in which 
they are presented to the reader — and think the 
work might be usefully introduced into the com- 
mon schools of our country. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
N. P. TALLMADGE, 
Rev. Dr. Macaulat. 



Want of room prevents the insertion of letters 
from the Hon. W. P. Mangum, Senator from North 
Carolina; the Hon. George N. Briggs, of Massa- 
chusetts ; Doctor Sewall, and other distinguished 
individuals. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Patriotism is a term which calls up before the mind the most 
grateful, thrilling, and ennobling associations ; and a theme which 
is dear to every enlightened lover of his country, of his species, 
and his God. 

Concerning this attractive subject and lofty quality much has, 
in every age, been said and sung. The celebration of its deeds 
has given inspiration to the poet, enthusiasm and elevation to 
the orator, and soul-stirring eloquence to the warworn hero of 
a thousand battles jand perilous achievements, even although un- 
tutored in the mysteries and elegancies of science and the arts. 
It is the glory of the statesman, the soldier, and the sage. By its 
absence, the pretenders to a solicitude for the welfare of their 
country, and the aspirants after those honors which she proposes 
exclusively to bestow upon her own loyal, devoted, and heroic 
sons, are branded with infamy. Upon the page of inspiration it 
occupies a distinguished place. Of it Moses wrote, and David 
and Isaiah sang : while Jesus and Paul developed and exem- 
plified its lofty principles and virtues in the divine instructions 
and the noble example which they furnished to the world. This 
gave grandeur to the conceptions, ardor to the imagination, and 
eloquence to the lips of a Demosthenes ; it stamps sublimity 
upon Homer's song ; it is the charm of romance : it is the soul 
of the best productions of the statuary : it endows with almost 
superhuman elevation and attraction the renowned personages 
of history : it ennobles our nature ; it confers liberty, and civili- 
zation, and religion upon nations; it is the scourge and the 
dread ot tyrants: it is the hope of our world : it brings glory to 
Gop and happiness to man, 

1 



Notwithstanding, however, that so much has been written 
upon the subject of Patriotism, there is still, in ray judgment, 
ample room for more. In our own nation and age especially, it 
seems requisite that the public mind should be properly and fre- 
quently directed to the importance of an enlightened and disin- 
terested love of country. The madness of party-spirit-— the love 
of money — the unprincipled scramble for place and power — the 
heterogeneousness of our population —our rapid grow T th — the 
disposition to substitute expediency for principle — the syco- 
phancy and subserviency — the coarse calumny and vulgar 
praise — and the illiteracy, ignorance, and irreligion, which too 
extensively characterize the periodical press — call loudly for 
the dissemination, in every appropriate way, of sound views of 
Christian Patriotism, by the friends of our Republic and of God. 

Perhaps no nation ever owed more to a pure and lofty Patri^ 
otism than our own ; and certainly none ever needed the prev- 
alence of that spirit and virtue in which they originated in a 
greater degree, in order to the full development and perpetuity 
of our free and excellent institutions. To the prosperity of a 
Republic, Patriotism is indispensable. In the history of the 
heroes and statemen of the American Revolution, a rich inheri- 
tance is bequeathed to their children, and the example which 
they set of willingly jeoparding their lives and their all for the 
disenthralment and the honor of their country, while it is prop- 
erly appreciated, and faithfully imitated, by their posterity, can 
not fail to elicit such displays of this principle as will be ade- 
quate to her future emergencies. There is much danger, how- 
ever, that the sterner and loftier virtues, which were rocked and 
matured in the storms in which our country had her birth and 
has arisen, even in the days of her youth, to a high point of dis- 
tinction among the nations of the earth, will be weakened or de- 
stroyed, by those luxurious habits which are the offspring of " 
abused prosperity, by the predominance of a sectional, selfish 
spirit, by sacrificing sound principles and national interests at 
the shrine of party", and especially by a neglect or disregard 
of our holy Religion,. which, as it is as essential to all genuine 



patriotism, in the highest and beat sense of the terms, as a spring 
to a stream, or a cause to an effect, was the animating motive 
to those grand displays of character which were afforded to the 
world by our patriotic revolutionary ancestors. 

In "The Patriot's Catechism," a just view of this subject is ex- 
hibited. Christianity has her own place. She redeems the man, 
and thus makes him a public benefactor. Integrity and philan- 
thropy being produced by her influence in the soul, they are ex- 
tended to family, to neighborhood, to state, to country, to the 
word, by seeking the good of all, and the injury of none, in the 
fear cf God. It is no longer a pagan, or an infidel animal attach- 
ment to soil, or clime, or caste, or clan, combined with a malignant 
and hostile spirit toward the interests of others : which might 
now manifest itself in ostentatious loyalty, and daring exploits, 
and now in heartless treason or rebellion, and bold but treach- 
erous adventures, and now in aggressive attacks upon feeble or 
friendly states or empires, even to the violation of plighted faith, 
according as self might be promoted, or the balance of faction 
might seem to vibrate ; as among uncivilized or despotic nations, 
and in revolutionary France. But it is a high and a pure prin- 
ciple, impulse, and determination, to promote, at all hazards, the 
happiness of ourselves and our fellow-creatures; by discharging, 
to the fullest extent of our abilities, in adaptation to every exi- 
gency that may arise, while abiding upon the rock, and regula- 
ted by the rule of sound principle in our respective places and 
relations, our duty at home, to our country, assigned as the 
more immediate theatre of our operations, in the establishment 
and sustentation of righteous, civil, and social order ; — and all 
to the glory of Messiah, the Supreme Ruler of the world. 

The catechetical mode of conveying instruction possesses ad- 
vantages which will be appreciated by men of intelligence and 
candor, without the aid of eulogy : they speak for themselves. 
It is a natural, ancient, familiar, dignified, sprightly, pointed, and 
effective method of imparting and receiving knowledge. It is 
alike adapted to the youth and the aged, the ignorant and the 
intelligent, the unlearned and the man of erudition and ioien- 



tific acquisitions ; and to every branch of oral or written in- 
struction. Our first and most important lessons are, indeed, 
chiefly thus received, and our elementary books are more fre- 
quently in the form of question and answer ; but it is a form 
successfully adopted in the teaching of the exact sciences, of 
chymistry, philosophy, astronomy, and of Christian theology. 
This little volume is enhanced in its value by being in the form 
of a catechism. 

This catechism is needed in our country, and its appearance 
at the present time is highly seasonable. Our citizens require 
to be indoctrinated in the subject, and imbued with the spirit of 
true patriotism. If just views upon this topic are deficient or 
wanting, and are not carried out in the reciprocal relations and 
operations of the rulers and the ruled, in our hitherto happy 
country, the very excellence of our institutions is a source of 
fearful danger to liberty and to man. The inestimable privilege 
of the elective franchise enjoyed by our citizens invests them 
with a power unknown among the populace of other ages and 
nations, which can only be safely wielded by the hands of intel- 
ligence and virtue. Their legitimate importance, as the ulti- 
mate residuaries of power, under God, secures for them the re- 
spectful attention and the good offices of those who aspire to 
stations of political eminence and trust ; and all require to be 
upon their guard against the growth of the pestiferous principles, 
and the application of the seductive arts, of the demagogue. 
They need early and wholesome instruction in reference to their 
rights and their duties, both as magistrates and as private citizens. 
How desirable that the minds of our youth should be timeously 
cast in the mould of Christian Patriotism, that, when they come 
to be actors upon the public stage, they may instinctively spurn 
the very idea of either giving or receiving the offices of their 
country by the adoption of ignoble means, or without recogni- 
sing, sustaining, and honoring, a high standard of intellectual and 
moral character as that by which they are to be undeviatingly 
regulated in all their political deliberations and movements : and 
that they may not abuse the honorable stations to which they 
may be elevated, nor omit, in the walks of private life, to honor 



the offices which they have themselves established in the persons 
of their incumbents, by their own voluntary choice. Then office- 
hunting would cease to be the trade of an unscrupulous ambi- 
tion — calumny would skulk away into her own appropriate ob- 
scurity — the ballot-box would be the safeguard of liberty and 
rectitude — and the representatives of such a people would be 
worthy of the posts which they might be called to occupy in a 
distinguished Christian nation. In order to this, Patriotism should 
be taught, as an important department of political and moral 
science, in the seminaries of our land : and I cherish the hope 
that our common schools, with others, will ere long adopt " The 
Patriot's Catechism" as one of their books of elementary in- 
struction. 

The execution of the work itself, however, and the high char- 
acter of the gentlemen who recommend it to the notice and pa- 
tronage of the public, preclude the necessity of detaining the 
reader any longer from its perusal. It is calculated, I think, to 
meet with a cordial reception from an enlightened community, 
and to confer a lasting benefit upon our beloved country. 

WILLIAM WILSON. 

New York, 28th December, 1842. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS, 



PART I. 

CHAP. I. The nature of Patriotism. 

CHAP. II. Circumstances favorable to the production and 
growth of Patriotism among a people. 

CHAP. III. What constitutes a true patriot, as contradistin- 
guished from the mere demagogue. 

CHAP. IV. The objects to which the true patriot will devote 
his exertions, and the sacrifices he will make for 
his country. 

CHAP. V. The incentives which American citizens have, from 
their past history, and their present position 
among the nations of the earth, t© cherish and 
develop .an enlightened and lofty patriotism. 

CHAP. VJ. The dangers which threaten the integrity, if not the 
existence, of true Patriotism in our country at 
the present day. 

CHAP. VII. The improvement to be made of the foregoing 
views of true Patriotism. 

PART II. 



CHAP. I. On the origin of civil government, and on that of 

the United States. 
CHAP. II. On the nature and ends of government. 
CHAP. III. On the support which Christianity renders to civil 

government. 
CHAP. IV. On the duties of Rulers. 
CHAP. V, On the duties of Ruled. 



CHAPTER I 
THE NATURE OF PATRIOTISM* 

Question. What ig patriotism? 

Answer. Patriotism is a pure and fervent love of 
our country, its inhabitants, institutions, and inter- 
ests — regulated in its exercise and manifestations 
by the law of God, and having, for its supreme 
object, the promotion of his glory, and the welfare 
and happiness of our fellow-citizens. 

Q. Is love of country and its institutions nat- 
ural to man? 

A. It is as natural to man to love his country as 
it is to love those who are endeared to him by his 
earliest, his most pleasing, and most permanent as- 
sociations ; and it is scarcely possible for him, at a 
more advanced period of life, to behold the house, 
the field, the rocks, the woods, " that met his ear- 
liest view, 7 ' without experiencing the freshness of 
new existence from the vivid reflection of his 
former self. 

Q. To what influence may be chiefly ascribed 
the desire which all who have been called to re- 
side in foreign climes, feel sometime to revisit their 
native land? 

A. To the influence which, in consequence of 
the principle of association, such objects and scenes 
have on the human mind; and although the 
scenes themselves may have little beauty or few 
charms in them, yet the delight with which we 
remember the traces of our past lives, blends itself 



8 

insensibly With the £m6tioll§ which the scenery 
awakens ; and the admiration which the remem- 
brance affords seems to give a kind of sacredness 
to the place where we drew our first breath, and 
spent our earliest years. 

Q. Do these facts show that love of country is 
a principle in man's nature ? 

^4. They do ; and the man who does not love his 
country, if there is such a man, acts in opposition to 
a principle inherent in human nature : and never 
does man, till the heart is lost to virtuous feeling, be- 
come indifferent to the land which gave him birth, 
or forsake its shores without regret and emotion. 

Q. Can this pure and fervent attachment to 
country be exercised in consistency with a due re- 
gard to the rights of all mankind? 

A. This regard to our country can certainly be 
cherished compatibly with the claims of all men 
to our sympathy and benevolence : and that man 
gives the best proofs of his benevolent feelings to- 
ward mankind who faithfully and zealously dis- 
charges the duties connected with the sphere in 
which he moves. 

Q. Can it be alleged that Christianity gives no 
countenance to the virtue of patriotism? 

A. It gives direct countenance, both by example 
and by precept. Did not its Divine founder ex- 
emplify this virtue by coming first to his own : in 
the meekness and patience with which, notwith- 
standing their contempt and opposition, he perse- 
vered in going about to do them good ; in the grief 
with which he wept over the impending destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem ; and in the commission which 
he gave his apostles to make the first offer of sal- 
vation to the inhabitants of that devoted city? 



Q. Is Hot the whole genius of Christianity fa- 
vorable to a patriotic spirit, and productive of so- 
cial virtue? 

A. Assuredly it is : and if it lead all who sin- 
cerely embrace it to the practice of a pure and 
elevated morality in private, there can be no doubt 
of its tendency to cherish the kindlier feelings of 
the heart, and of its inclining them to do good as 
they have opportunity. 

Q. What well-merited compliment does an 
avowed enemy to Christianity* pay to it when 
speaking on this subject ? 

A. He says that " to certain individuals who 
were deeply imbued with the spirit of Christianity, 
and who were animated by views, large, generous, 
and noble, the nation owes its liberty ;" and, it may 
be added, perhaps its industry, its commerce, and 
naval power. 

Q. Has Christianity had her patriots ? 

A. In every age she has had, under her banner, 
men of noble heroism, who endeavored to exalt 
their country — not in the subjugation and distres- 
ses of neighboring nations, but by gloriously seek- 
ing to promote the happiness of their own — men 
who submitted to all the privations and sufferings 
that tyranny could inflict, that they might leave to 
their children the blessings of liberty — the inheri- 
tance of free principles, and the example of a manly, 
independent, and constitutional defence of them. 

Q. What were the defects in the patriotism of 
the ancient Greeks and Romans ? 

A. With them it was an all-absorbing principle, 
leading, not merely to a total disregard to private 

# Hume. 



io 

interest, but to the immutable claims of justice 
and humanity : their wars were undertaken from 
ambition, and conducted without regard to justice ; 
they treated all other nations with cruelty and bar- 
barity ; and, in destroying the liberties of others, 
they appeared to be actuated more by a spirit of 
oppressing mankind at large than of exercising 
that humanity which is the fruit of benevolence, 
and therefore they could not be patriots, in the 
proper acceptation of the term. 

Q. Is there anything in the systems of religion 
connected with heathenism that could suggest to the 
mind the model of a pure and elevated patriotism ? 

A. Nothing; and far less was there anything in 
it that could cherish the kindly and generous af- 
fections of human nature : its patriotism had little 
regard to the rights of any other nation but its 
own ; and it is to the benign influence of Chris- 
tianity that men have been taught, not merely to 
do the things that are just, but to do the things that 
are generous, disinterested, and truly noble. 

Q. Can it be shown that patriotism is a duty ? 

-4. If it can be shown to be the will of our Crea- 
tor, that our benevolence should first and chiefly be 
expressed to those in our vicinity, to those who 
are connected with us in a family relation, and by 
the ties of kindred, and as living under the same 
government, then patriotism, as a duty, binding 
upon all, is clearly established. 

Q. Should not the dictate of true patriotism 
be the same as that of genuine disinterested bene- 
volence ? 

A. It should ; and that dictate is to do the great- 
est good possible, and every man must begin at 



ii 

home, with the members of his own family, with 
the poor, the ignorant, the wretched in his vicinity, 
with his kindred, and his country; — for he who 
merely sighs over the thraldom and misery of dis- 
tant nations, and neglects the wants of those 
within his reach, is merely wasting his benevo- 
lence, if benevolence it can be called, on those 
whom he can not benefit, and leaving unoccupied 
the important, sphere of duty and of usefulness in 
which Providence invites him to move. 

Q. Is it necessary, while we endeavor to perform 
acts of kindness to our neighbor, that we neglect 
the management of our own affairs ? 

A. By no means : to make exertions for our own 
benefit : to take care of ourselves : each man to 
mind his own business: do it well, and gossip as 
little as possible, is no small part of good citizen- 
ship : and it should be considered, by all sensible 
persons, as very ungenteel to live an idle and use- 
less life. 

Qj^ And who is the best friend to his country, 
and the world? 

A. The man who diffuses the greatest amount 
of happiness — who mitigates the most distress 
wiihin his own circle : and were all men to set 
about the performance of such godlike objects, 
nothing more would be necessary to make the 
greatest part of the wretchedness that is in the 
world disappear in at moment. 



12 



CHAPTER II, 

CIRCUMSTANCES FAVORABLE TO THE PRODUC- 
TION AND GROWTH OF PATRIOTISM AMONG A 
PEOPLE. 

Question. Does the character of individuals de- 
pend much upon their early training, and the cir- 
cumstances in which they have been placed? 

Answer. It does : indeed every situation of life 
serves for the formation of character. 

Q. Is the formation of national, like that of in- 
dividual character, dependant upon a variety of 
causes ? 

A. It is ; and the formation is, in a great meas- 
ure, carried on by the reaction of its own effects, 
and is generally, if not always, moulded more by 
the consequences of its own early development, 
than by any separate and extrinsic bias. 

Q. Is it easy to trace that system of influences 
in which the genius and peculiarities of the na- 
tional character of a people originated ? 

A. It is scarcely possible to "distribute with mi- 
nute accuracy the causes and the effects, the action 
and the reaction, which go to form the character of 
a people. 

Q. Name some circumstances favorable to the 
production and growth of patriotism among a 
people. 

A. Ancestry, or the character of the early set- 
tlers of a country; love of liberty; religion; edu- 
cation ; hardships ; position on the globe ; the qual- 
ities of climate and soil, &c. 



13 

Q. Does the history of the human family show 
that peculiarities of national character may be 
traced in a great degree to that of the early set- 
tlers? 

A. It does ; and the question may be answered 
by referring to the history of the three great streams 
of migration by which the world seems to have 
been repeopled after the deluge. The descendants 
of Shem, who colonized the east and south of Asia, 
seem to have possessed a prone, simple, submissive 
spirit, susceptible, without much difficulty, of civ- 
ilization up to a certain point, but easily duped by 
artifice, or prostrated by dominion, as is seen in 
those stupendous systems of despotic and sacerdo- 
tal power — immemorial sepulchres of the human 
intellect, which have erected themselves in the 
east. Again, the descendants of Ham, who pro- 
ceeded by the southwest of the same continent 
into Africa, appear to have been characterized by 
a similar temper of tameness and submission, but 
to have been, on the whole, inferior in the suscep- 
tibility of culture and refinement : and the de- 
scendants of Japhet, on the contrary, seem, from 
their whole history, to have been originally dis- 
tinguished over both its brother tribes, by the pos- 
session of more enterprise of character — an intenser 
love of liberty — a greater versatility of talent, and 
a wider range of desire ; by a freer evolution of 
humanity, and a proportionally more extensive 
capacity of civilization. 

Q. For what were the descendants of Japhet, 
or early Athenians, distinguished? 

A For a patriotic spirit, which they exhibited 
to the fullest extent. 

Q, Is love of liberty favorable to patriotism? 



14 

A. Nothing more so : a nation of serfs could 
never be patriots, in the proper sense of the term. 

Q. Have religion and education any influence 
in forming character? 

A. Yes: moral and religious principles have 
the chief influence in forming the manners and 
character of a people, as well as those of the states- 
man : — for says Bishop Berkeley, "He who has not 
meditated much upon God, the human soul, and 
its chief good, may possibly make a shrewd and 
thriving earthworm, but he will indubitably make 
a blundering patriot, and a sorry statesman." 

Q. What effect has the encountering wilh diffi- 
culties in the formation of character? 

A. They give nerve to the arm, and energy to 
the mind : for he who has been cradled in the 
school of adversity can stand erect, and face the 
storm: and the sentiment is as true as it is beau- 
tiful : " As storm following storm, and wave suc- 
ceeding wave, give additional hardness to the shell 
that encloses the pearl, so do the storms and waves 
of life add force to the characier of man." 

Q. What influence has the position which a na- 
tion or people occupy on the globe, in forming the 
character? 

A A remote position, at a distance from the ef- 
feminizing influence of luxury, where exertions 
are necessary to be put forth, are favorable to the 
fostering of a patriotic spirit : and it is known that 
those nations who have longest maintained their 
liberty and independence, have done it chiefly by 
virtue of their insular situation, by lofty mountains, 
or wide rivers. 

Q. Have peculiarities of climate any effect in 
moulding' the character of a people ? 



15 

A, No one, who reflects for a moment on the 
intimacy of the connexion which subsists between 
the body and the soul, and the constant alternation 
of action and reaction which is going on between 
them, can reasonably refuse to admit that however 
this influence may be checked and rendered im- 
perceptible by more powerful causes, it must, from 
its own nature, be an operative energy. 

Q. Has music any influence on the people of a 
nation ? 

A. A distinguished patriot ranked the influence 
of national ballads upon the character of a people 
above that of legal enactments : and the summary 
which Plato gives of the popular institute of edu- 
cation at Athens is, " Music for the mind and gym- 
nastics for the body? 

Q. And why are religion, education, and liberty, 
so favorable to the growth of a patriotic spirit in 
every country where they exist? 

A. Because, wherever these have their proper 
influence on a people, they produce self-respect ; 
dignity of character and conduct ; give an eleva- 
tion and range to thought : and it is as true, that 
a virtuous and enlightened people ean not be slaves, 
as it is true that an immoral and unenlightened 
people can not be freemen, 



1G 



CHAPTER III. 

WHAT CONSTITUTES A TRUE PATRIOT, AS CONTRA- 
DISTINGUISHED FROM THE MERE DEMAGOGUE. 

Question. What does the word demagogue mean? 

Answer. Literally, a leader of the people: Sheri- 
idan, in his dictionary, makes it, "a ringleader of the 
rabble :" it is often taken in the sense of a stirrer- 
up, or agitator, and gives the idea of a factious 
man, who has influence with the populace, and 
who is disposed to employ it, more for his own sel- 
fish purposes, than for any particular regard he has 
to his country. 

Q. What notable specimens of the demagogue 
does history furnish ? 

A. Sacred history furnishes many ; and in pro- 
fane may be mentioned, iEschines in Greece, Cati- 
line in Rome, and Aaron Burr in America. 

Q. What distinction should be made between 
parties and factions of men ? 

A. Parties are founded on principle : factions on 
men : under the former, people are contending re- 
specting the system that shall be pursued : under 
the latter, they are candidates for office, and are 
only debating whose livery they shall wear. 

Q. Among factions of men, is it easy to point 
out their political distinctions ? 

A y It is very difficult. 

Q. Does the cause of freedom derive much se- 
curity from the existence of a regular opposition? 

A. It may be the. part of a demagogue to oppose 
measures without any regard to the principles in- 



volved in them, but a tvm patriot will regard i 
systematic opposition maintained against any man 
in office merely on his account, as cherishing a fac- 
tious spirit. 

Q. Who then is the true patriot? 

A. The man who, influenced by a principle of 
love to God and his country, and of obedience to 
their laws, and devotion to their glory, manifests 
it in the fearless discharge of his religious, moral, 
and civil obligations, as occasions may arise, by a 
disinterested and heroic spirit, whatever the perils 
and privations may be, which crowd along his 
path. 

Q. Who then is the demagogue, or pseudo pa- 
triot? 

J. The man who artfully affects a zeal for the 
public good, while at the same time, he is only 
seeking for place and power, without that principle 
and character by which they are merited. 

Q. And what is the character of a pure, patriotic 
statesman 1 

A. He is one who, uncorruptecl by mere selfish 
views, contemplates events in which the happiness 
of a future generation may be endangered, and by 
which the happiness of that of the present may be 
destroyed; — one whose mind is enlarged by the 
most valuable knowledge,— whose heart is soften- 
ed by religion and humanity, and whose spirit is 
elevated above the ordinary level of mankind. 

Q. Can he be a true patriot who, notwithstand- 
ing his party likings and dislikes, is habitually in- 
fringing those laws on which her safety and pros- 
perity depend ? 

A. No ; it is like " Hail! master," with the lips, and 
n stab to the heart ; and that man is a disorganizer, 



lg 

let his political principles be what they may, who 
is spreading through the moral world the seeds of 
disorder and vice, and thereby sapping the founda- 
tion of all government. 

Q. Is that man a true patriot who lives in the 
habitual violation of any rule in her moral code? 

A. No: for by doing so he contributes his share 
to accomplish her destruction ; and the practice of 
vice, like a cancer in the natural body, will, at last, 
extend itself to the vitals of the country, and pro- 
duce its ruin. 

Q. Is that man a true patriot, whatever may be 
his professions of attachment to his country, who 
habitually engages in gambling, swearing, lying, or 
drunkenness? 

A. By no means : these are vices which com- 
pletely militate against the best interests of the in- 
dividual who practises them, and which are calcu- 
lated to unhinge society ; and that man can not 
truly love his country who is an enemy to himself, 
and is addicted to practices which war against his 
best interest. 

Q. Why should the duellist be regarded as the 
enemy of man, and of his country? 

A. Because he aims at taking away life, contrary 
to the feelings of humanity — to the unbiased voice 
of reason, and of conscience— to the requirements 
of law, and to the command of the Eternal God- 
merely to gratify mortified pride, and honor, " false- 
ly so called ;" and to avoid the imputation of cow- 
ardice, he thereby shows himself to be a very cow- 
ard, by not possessing the magnanmity to bear 
what many Christian martyrs have borne before 
him, the scorn, reproach, and ridicule of the world, 
arid by deserting the post, the friends, the duties, 
which his God has assigned him. 



19 

Q. In what language may our country expostu- 
late with all pseudo patriots, duellists, and immoral 
partisans of every description ? 

A. She may thus address them : " Obedience is 
the test of love. Ye can not truly regard me and 
seek my prosperity without maintaining my legiti- 
mate authority, by keeping and recommending my 
laws. If ye possess patriotism manifest it by thy 
works." 

Q. How can the young best evince their patriot- 
ism? 

A. By cultivating a spirit of docility, modesty, 
reverence to superior years, and, above all, by giv- 
ing respect and obedience to their parents. 

Q. How can heads of families best evince their 
patriotism ? 

A. By training up their children in the fear of 
the Lord : by watching over, not only the moral?, 
but the principles, of those committed to their 
trust, and being careful to imbue their minds with 
a thorough knowledge of the evidences on which 
Christianity rests, and a profound reverence for the 
Scriptures of truth. 

Q. How can woman best evince her patriotism? 

A. By smiling upon virtue, and frowning upon 
vice: by lending the whole of her gentle, but re- 
sistless influence, in encouraging every plan which 
has for its object, the intellectual, and moral eleva- 
tion of the species — exhibiting in her lofty deport- 
ment, her firm belief in the truth of the maxim 
that " marts moral greatness is his true greatness ;" 
and by showing that her influence can do more 
than give a polish to society— that it can entertain, 
instruct, reform* 



-20 



CHAPTER IV, 

THE OBJECTS TO WHICH THE TRUE PATRIOT 
WILL DEVOTE HIS EXERTIONS, AND THE SAC- 
RIFICES HE WILL MAKE FOR HIS COUNTRY. 

Question. What is the object which every true pa- 
triot and enlightened statesman will contemplate? 

Answer. The happiness of a nation. 

Q. What are the best means for the accomplish- 
ing of such an end? 

A. The encouraging of industrious habits : ad- 
vancing the cause of learning, virtue, and religion- 
believing that the patriotism which has little or no 
regard to the promoting of these great objects is 
spurious, and availeth nothing. 

Q. Why? 

A Because the real and permanent welfare of a 
people is essentially connected with learning, vir- 
tue, and religion: and wherever true patriotism 
exists it must have religion for its basis, its rule, 
and its great and ultimate end. 

Q. Supposing that society was sunk in infidel- 
ity, and that a philosophical scepticism became 
generally prevalent, what would be the conse- 
quence? 

A. It would become destitute of disinterested 
and public virtue, and be even more fruitful of the 
vices that are hostile to social happiness, than any 
form of false religion, or than all the forms of false 
religion combined ; there would be nothing in it 
* to check the selfishness of the human heart ; noth- 
ing to lead to the achievement of anything great, 
and generous, and heretic, 



21 

. 

<J. What is the very least we can ask and ex- 
pect from every man in whatever rank or station 
he may be placed, who aspires to fill any situation 
in which the interests of the public or a nation 
are involved? 

A. That he profess a regard to the interests of 
religion, education, and virtue. 

Q. Why is that man unworthy of the entire 
confidence of his country who does not appear to 
be influenced by the fear of God ? 

A. Because there is the greatest probability that 
his real motives are far different from those which 
are avowed : and, also, because he will employ 
whatever power he may obtain in the encourage- 
ment of selfish, ambitious, or profligate persons 
around him. 

Q. What sacrifices will the true patriot make 
for his country? 

A. When duty calls he will sacrifice his ease, 
emolument, honor, reputation, and even life itself, 
for the purpose of benefiting his country, or of 
gaining blessings to his countrymen. 

Q. And should such pure patriotism be the 
spirit of all? 

A, It should ; and it may bum as purely and as 
fervently, though with less striking manifestations, 
in the bosom of the humblest individual in the 
land, as it did in that of a Washington, 



22 



CHAPTER V. 

THE INCENTIVES WHICH AMERICAN CITIZENS 
HAVE, FROM THEIR PAST HISTORY, AND 
THEIR PRESENT POSITION AMONG THE NA- 
TIONS OF THE EARTH, TO CHERISH AND DE- 
VELOP AN ENLIGHTENED AND LOFTY PATRIOT- 
ISM. 

Question, Has our country, as far as she has ad- 
vanced, been highly favored of Heaven ? 

Answer. She has. 

Q. In what respect ? 

A. In her founders : in the objects for which the 
nation was founded : in her preservation in seasons 
of danger: in her increase and prosperity, and in 
an abundant enjoyment of the comforts of life, and 
the fruits of our own labor. 

Q. How has she been favored in regard to her 
founders ? 

A. Rome, and some of the Grecian states, were 
founded by outlaws, and desperadoes ; but, to found 
our country, to use the quaint language of a sen- 
sible writer, " God sifted three kingdoms that he 
might plant the American wilderness with the 
finest wheat." 

Q. Who were the founders ? 

A. They were a self-denying, and noble band, 
of whom the world was not worthy, and who have 
been called, by way of ridicule and reproach, Pu- 
ritans — a term which their own character has long 
since rescued from contempt, and which is identi- 
fied with all that is great, and glorious in man. 



23 

Q. Did they achieve much for mankind ? 

A. Yes : they came to this country the friends 
of liberty, of education, of religion : and in the 
learning of many of them, and in the wisdom and 
results of their plans and labors, they stili stand 
forth a noble race, altogether superior to the ances- 
tors of any other nation. 

Q. Had they any faults? 

.4. Man must go higher than this world before 
he become faultless: they had doubtless some false 
logic — some extravagant ideas, the effects of the 
age in which they lived ; but their efforts, their be- 
nevolence, have done more for us than ever chiv- 
alry did, or can do, for any people ; and it becomes 
us to revere their memory, study their history, 
cherish their noble principles, and imitate their 
lofty Christian virtues. 

Q. Was any other nation founded from such 
motives, and for* such noble and benevolent ends 
as ours ? 

A. The Grecian and Roman states were in- 
tended only as a means of wealth and conquest, 
and the same is true of the colonies of Spain, and 
those of Great Britain in the East and West Indies ; 
but the founders of our country, oppressed and 
persecuted where they should have been protected, 
resolved, for liberty's sake, and religion's sake, to 
leave the homes of their fathers for the trackless 
wilds of this western world. 

Q. How was our country preserved in seasons 
of trial and danger ? * 

A. On the arrival of our forefathers, the power 
of the savage was mercifully restrained till, by their 
own increase, they were adequate to the work of 
self protection : and later in our history, France 



24 

coveted our possessions, and, for more than half a 
century, strove to wrest them from us ; but He that 
* transplanted, sustained:" and in great mercy we 
were saved, and brought off conquerors. 

Q. How has our nation been distinguished in 
regard to its increase and prosperity? 

A. Not three centuries ago a few barks, tossed 
upon yonder billows, contained our entire popula- 
tion, and a few settlements in the howling wilder- 
ness were all the extent of our territory, and the 
title even to that was disputed by wild beasts, and 
the wilder and fiercer savages. Even at the rev- 
olution, our territory was comparatively limited, 
and our population small, but now we have a ter- 
ritory extending from ocean to ocean, comprising 
more than two millions of square miles, or about 
one twentieth of the habitable globe, and con- 
taining within its borders seventeen millions of 
freemen, surrounded with peace, and enjoying the 
means of happiness. 

Q. How are we distinguished as to the comforts 
of life? 

A. In no other land are they so fully enjoyed. 
In Norway and Sweden oatmeal and dried fish are 
the common food of the peasantry : and in the? 
freezing climate of Russia, few of the peasantry 
have beds to sleep on, or blankets to cover them. 

Q. How are we favored as to education ? 

A, We are highly favored, with schools, col- 
leges, and universities; and have reason to believe 
that "education is the cheap defence of nations," 



25 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE DANGERS WHICH THREATEN THE INTEGRI- 
TY, IF NOT THE EXISTENCE, OP TRUE PATRI- 
OTISM AMONG A PEOPLE. 

Question. What government is it that is exposed 
to the greatest perils ? 

Answer. The freest ; and if it does not work 
well, it must work worse than others. 

Q. To be free and happy, is nothing more ne- 
cessary than merely to live under a republican 
form of government ? 

A. Were that the only requisite, then the re- 
nowned states of Greece and Rome should have 
existed till this day ; but republican institutions 
can no more exist without the diffusion of knowl- 
edge and virtue, than animal life without air. 

Q. What then has destroyed all other republics? 

A. Vice and ignorance. 

Q. What danger are we particularly exposed to 
in this country ? 

A. We are in no small danger of falling into the 
habit of regarding it as a settled thing that we aie 
to become, not only the largest and richest, but the 
freest, wisest, and happiest nation on the face of 
the earth, forgetting, at the very time, the grand 
condition on which all national prosperity depends. 

Q. How can the true interests and permanent 
welfare of a nation be secured ? 

A. Only by maintaining that " righteousness that 
exalteth a nation." 
3 



26 

Q. What other danger forms a reasonable 
ground of alarm ? 

A. Should the popular spirit ever tend toward 
a licentious anarchy of mob domination — of lib- 
erty without law and public order — we are 
in the greatest possible danger ; for it is beyond a 
doubt, that a people can inflict upon themselves, 
by an abuse of liberty, a thousand fold more evils 
than the most iron despotism can do. 

Q. What other danger besets us, pervading the 
whole mass of society ? 

A. The excessive and restless struggle of every 
one, not to acquire lofty science, and all the more 
gpiritual elements of social well being, but to get 
rich ; and it is matter of regret that so many have 
a profound reverence for nothing but money. 

Q. In what consists the danger of this excessive 
anxiety for wealth, which characterizes this gener- 
ation 1 

A. History and experience demonstrate that the 
tendency of excessive wealth is, not to raise man 
in the scale of moral and intellectual greatness, 
but to sink him in luxury, and private and public 
corruption ; and, unless it is counteracted and en- 
nobled by higher and happier influences, is sure to 
degrade a nation, as it does an individual. 

Q. What very false standard is set up by many 
in the present day, as to what constitutes real merit ? 
A. The standard of thinking it less important to 
be wise, and virtuous, and learned, than to be rich. 
Q. Is there not some danger too when we ad- 
vance to a state of high civilization, without corre- 
sponding cultivation of both head and heart, that 
is, intellectual and moral culture? 



27 

A. There certainly is ; and in such a state ot 
things, the morals of a nation, and the whole tone 
of society, are veiy likely to be injured. 

Q. What other element endangers our country ? 
A. The strife of party politics, artfully carried 
on, by hordes of office-seekers, who have discovered 
that it is their interest to keep up the strife, ring 
changes upon a few popular watchwords, and 
excite the passions of the less-informed portion of 
the community, while a virulent party press is too 
ready to lend its aid in prolonging the strife, by 
adding fuel to the fire. 

Q. Is there any danger to religion, and conse- 
quently, to our country, from the restless craving 
and ill tempered zeal, that exist in the present day 
for religious novelty and excitement ? 

A. From this restless desire for something new 
in religion, there is a tendency in man to rush 
from one error or extreme to another, till he fall 
headlong into the pit of fanaticism or infidelity. 

Q. Is not the present age remarkable, more for 
running after exciting and declamatory preaching, 
than for that which is solid and instructing ? 

A. It is ; and only let it be announced that a 
Miller, or any other fanatic of the day, is going 
to exhibit, and a whole city will flock to hear his 
ravings. It seems to be, in some cases, too true, 
that, in proportion as a man is lunatic, or glitter- 
ing without being solid, splendid without being 
useful, or destitute of " sound speech, which can 
not be condemned/' is he sure of a large congrega- 
tion. 

Q. Is all warmth in the preacher then to be 
condemned, as if it endangered the existence of 
truth? 



28 

A By no means; who would not condemn cold- 
ness' and indifference in the minister of religion, 
and condemn only that fury of passion, which has 
more of animal than of mental excitement in it, 
and which is forced emotion, and no more true 
feeling, than bombast is the sublime? 

Q. Any other danger to our country? 

A. Yes; there is danger from the popular pro- 
ductions that are constantly issuing from the press, 
the bad effects of which, some parents may deplore 
on the minds of their children. The world, it is 
to be regretted, is filled with a species of literature 
with which it is dangerous to become acquainted, 
which is the vehicle' of infidelity, in all its forms 
of refinement and coarseness, and which addresses 
itself in wit, in vile and vulgar ribaldry, in pollu- 
ting insinuations, and existing under the garb of 
history, poetry, of philosophy, and of periodical 
journals, and assailing the highest interests of man, 
as a moral, a religious, and an immortal being. 



29 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE IMPROVEMENT TO BE MADE OF THE FORE- 
GOING VIEWS OF PATRIOTISM. 

Question. What may be learned from a review of 
the foregoing pages ? 

Answer. The duty and importance of cultiva- 
ting a patriotic spirit. 

Q. Who, after all, is the best Patriot ? 

A. The best Christian. 

Q. Does Christian patriotism teach ns to confine 
our benevolent exertions to our own land? 

A. No : the benevolence that embraces the 
whole world is in perfect harmony with the ten- 
derness that endears our country. 

Q. What lesson may all, but especially the young, 
learn from the fact that the formation of character 
depends upon a variety of causes ? 

A. The useful lesson that man has been ren- 
dered, by his Creator, for wise and gracious de- 
signs, capable of forming habits — and since he is 
so much the creature of habit and circumstances, 
it is of infinite importance, that this law of his na- 
ture be turned by him to good account ; and he 
can do so, by training his mind, by calling forth 
and cherishing good dispositions, and suppressing 
bad ones, and by studiously forming those habits, 
in early years, that will prepare him for the suc- 
cessful discharge of the duties of life. 

Q. What habit, the formation of which is of such 
vast importance, as to influence our religious and 



30 

hioral improvement, the equanimity of our temper, 
and the permanence of our happiness ? 

A. That habit is Industry. In regard to ev- 
erything that tends to elevate man in goodness, in 
greatness, or in happiness, the formation of this 
habit is of the greatest value. 

Q. What lesson can the youthful patriot learn 
from the early history of George Washington? 

A. That the circumstances and habits of his 
early life formed him for the exalted station Provi- 
dence intended him to fill. Far from the enerva- 
ting pleasures or patrician softness of life ; born by 
the side of the Potomac, beneath the roof of an 
honest Westmoreland farmer, that of an orphan 
was his lot, almost, from infancy. At sixteen years 
of age, in search of an honest maintenance, en- 
countering intolerable toil, the Virginian stripling 
delighted himself with the thought that, although 
no academy had invited him to repose within her 
shades, no college crowned him with its honors, he 
qualified himself to read, write, and cipher. Pos- 
sessing the spirit of genuine independence, he 
writes to a school companion, that he was his own 
cook, having no spit but a forked stick, no plate 
but a large chip, rarely slept on a bed, and re- 
garded a bearskin a splendid couch for repose. 
Such were the youthful hardships that formed the 
character of him who stands — 

<c Virtue confessed in human shape ; 

and whom God selected to give a new impulse to 
human affairs, and to mark the commencement of 
a new era for the human race. His name will 
live, as liberty spreads from age to age. 



SI 

Q. What can we learn from contemplating the 
character of the true patriot, as contradistinguish- 
ed from the mere demagogue ? 

A. We can learn how much one pure patriot 
can effect for his country, by generous disinterest- 
edness, incorruptible integrity, undaunted firm- 
ness, and a zealous concern for the advancing of 
the cause of learning, virtue, and religion — the 
three grand pillars, on which rests a republican 
form of government. 

Q. What do we learn from reviewing the early 
history of our forefathers, or the founders of this 
country ? 

A. Our obligations to preserve and transmit to 
the latest posterity, unimpaired, the valuable leg- 
acy they bequeathed to us ; to set a noble exam- 
ple to the world of everything that is great and 
good; and, while we rejoice in the exalted and 
benevolent ends for which our nation was founded, 
we should never forget that, while our privileges 
and liberties were gained by negligence and self-2*'*^ 
denial, they may be lost by indulgence, sloth, or 
supineness. " The Romans were never more proud 
of their ancestors than when they ceased to resem- 
ble them" 

Q. What do we learn from contemplating the 
dangers to which the integrity, if not the existence 
of patriotism, is exposed ? 

A. To do the very best we can, and at the same 
time, trust in Him, who is Governor among the 
nations. " And blessed is that people whose Go4 
is the Lord." 



32 



PART II. 



CHAPTER I 

ON THE ORIGIN OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT, AMD 
ON THAT OP THE UNITED STATES. 

Question. What was probably the first kind of 
government ? 

Answer. The patriarchal. 

Q. What naturally leads to such a conclusion 1 

A. The account which is given to us in the 
Pentateuch, of the longevity of man in the early 
ages of the world, and of the habits of pastoral 
life which prevailed at that time. 

Q. What consideration strengthens this opin- 
ion ? 

A. A consideration of the circumstances in which 
mankind are introduced into the world, and in 
which they are prepared for the duties and employ- 
ments in which they are afterward to engage ; — 
being united from the beginning into families of 
small communities, they are trained up under a 
system of discipline, and by being accustomed to 
render obedience to parental authority, they can 
afterward more readily yield whatever subjection 
the arrangements of Providence may require from 
them. 

Q. Is it likely that, in those days, the parental 
authority would, more or less continue, during the 
parent's life ? 



33 

A. It is highly probable it would ; and that au- 
thority might be revered after the death of the pa- 
rent ; and they being united together by affection 
and habit, would be" led, from motives of conve- 
nience and security, to transfer their obedience to 
some one of the family who, by his age or servi- 
ces, or by the part he possessed in the direction of 
their affairs during the lifetime of the parent, had 
already taught them to respect his advice, or to at- 
tend to his commands. 

Q. How can the origin of a tribe be accounted 
for? 

A. Somehow in the same way; and as the tribe in- 
creased in affluence and power, it would gradually 
extend its authority, so that surrounding families 
would by degrees incorporate themselves into it, 
that they might enjoy its protection. 

Q. Can any causes be assigned why, in all prob- 
ability, the authority vested in the chief of a tribe 
was hereditary? 

A. Probably his own personal accomplishment, 
his mental superiority, his skill in war, and wisdom 
in peace, might all raise him so high in the esti- 
mation and affection of the different members of 
the tribe, that they would fix upon him to be their 
leader, and it would be quite natural to transfer the 
affectionate obedience to the son, which the tribe 
had given to the father. 

Q. Is not some form of Government necessary 
in every country? 

.4. Yes ; without it anarchy, with all its evils, 
would prevail, and neither life nor property would 
be safe. 

Q. Are there not different modes of government 
throughout the world ? 



34 

A. Yes : there is despotism, where a single man 
rules, and makes laws as he pleases: he is called 
a despot : in some countries, a certain number of 
persons belonging to ancient or wealthy families 
make the laws and rule, and the name of that 
form of government is aristocracy, and when the 
power is in the hands of the people, it is a democ- 
racy. 

Q. When a country once increases in popula- 
tion, to a considerable amount, how are the affairs 
of government conducted ? 

A. By representation ; that is, the people choose 
a certain number from among themselves, to at- 
tend to the affairs of the state or nation, and they 
meet, and represent a certain district or portion of 
country, and attend to its interests, and that mode 
of government is called representative, or republi- 
can. 

Q. Of all modes of government which is the 
best? 

A. The representative; because, if the people 
make a wise and judicious selection of proper men 
to represent them, it is the same as if they govern- 
ed themselves; and indeed possesses many advanta- 
ges, for although many have sufficient judgment to 
select wise and good men to be their legislators, it 
does not follow that these many make good legisla- 
tors themselves. 

Q. Does it not seemincongruous, or inconsistent, 
that millions of mankind, whose physical force, 
when combined, seems irresistible, should submit 
to the control, directions, and enactments, of a few 
of their fellow-creatures? 

A. No : It accords with reason, is for the good 
of society, and Divine Revelation clearly show3 it 



35 

to be the will of God, that there should be an es- 
tablished government, and that obedience should 
be g-iven to the existing authorities. 

Q. What would probably be the consequence if 
the whole people, in their own individual persons, 
were the legislators, and executors of laws ? 

A. Anarchy and injustice would prevail ; and 
hence the necessity of the legislative, executive, 
and judicial departments of government, establish- 
ed for the existence and well-being of a nation. 

Q. What is the origin of the government under 
which we now live ? 

A. We trace the origin of our government to the 
Fourth of July, 1T76 ; the day when the colonies 
declared themselves free and independent States. 

Q. How were we governed before the Fourth of 
July? 

A, We were governed by Great Britain, as her 
colonies. 

Q: Were her laws wise, just, and good ? 

.4. In many respects they were, but she began 
to treat us rather unjustly, and the course she pur- 
sued against us threatened our liberty ; and al- 
though we remonstrated with her, as to the injus- 
tice of her conduct, our remonstrance only led her 
to send over some of her ships and soldiers to en- 
force obedience. 

Q. Did the colonies think it right to obey ? 

A. They bravely resisted — took up arms— car- 
ried on a war against fearful odds with Great Brit- 
ain, and compelled two armies to surrender; 

Q. What was the consequence? 

A. Great Britain was compelled, in 1783, to 
acknowledge the independence of those colonies 
which she had previously governed, 



36 

Q. What is the war in which America and Great 
Britain were engaged, for more than seven years 
called ? 

A. The American Revolution. 

Q. With what feelings should that Revolution 
be remembered by us ? 

A. With feelings of gratitude to God. for the 
blessings which have followed it ; with reverence 
and affection to the memories of those good, wise, 
and great men, who achieved so much for us, at 
such risk and suffering. 

Q. How did Great Britain, or the mother-coun- 
try, feel in her circumstances? 

A. She felt keenly the pangs of separation, as 
every mother must who parts for ever with a be- 
loved daughter. 

Q. After the war of the Revolution did each of 
the colonies become free States, each having a 
right to govern itself, as it should think fit? 

A. Yes; but as they were induced to unite to- 
gether for mutual help during the war, they very 
properly continued united, and entered into an 
agreement, called a Confederation, having made 
laws which they all promised to obey. 

Q. Did the plan of the Confederation continue? 

A. No; they soon called a convention, when a 
complete plan was laid and adopted for uniting all 
the States under one General Government, and it 
was called The Federal Constitution, and under 
its direction we now live, and enjoy liberty, secu- 
rity, and happiness. 

Q. By whom are all the laws made which con- 
cern the United States? 

A. By Congress. 

Q. Do the members of Congress all meet to- 
gether in one assembly when they make laws ? 



37 

A. No ; they meet in two separate assemblies, 
one of which is called the Senate, and the other 
is called the House of Representatives. 

Q. Who are the persons who choose the mem- 
bers of the House of Representatives ? 

A. The people of all the different States; be- 
cause the laws of Congress concern all the States, 
and must be obeyed by the General Govern- 
ment, or by all the people of this Republic. 

Q. How is the election of members to the House 
of Representatives conducted? 

A. A day is fixed, and those who have a right 
to vote, appear at a place called the polls, and by 
putting into a hole, in the top of certain boxes, a 
slip of paper, with the names of the persons whom 
they choose written on it; afterward these slips 
of paper are examined, and the number of the 
votes given by the people for each candidate, are 
counted ; and those having the greatest number of 
votes are elected. 

Q. How are disputes concerning elections set- 
tled? 

A. A dispute in the Senate, is settled by the 
Senate ; and one by a member claiming a seat in 
the House of Representatives, can be determined 
only by that body. 

Q. For how long a period can one be elected 
for the House of Representatives ? 

A. Only for two years; but he may be re-elected. 

Q. How are the members of the Senate of the 
United States chosen ? 

A. The legislature of each State chooses the 
Senators for that State, and two are chosen for each 
State in the Union. 



38 

Q. Although some of the States have a much 
larger population than others, why is each State, 
large or small, entitled to only two Representatives 
in the Senate ? 

A, Because, in the United States they are repre- 
sented as sovereigns — no legard being paid to rela- 
tive strength — an important feature in this branch 
of Government. 

Q. What age must a person be before he can be 
chosen a member of the House of Representatives ? 

A. Twenty-five years of age, and must eidier 
have been born in the United States, or must have 
been naturalized seven years before he can be elect- 
ed. 

Q. How old must a Senator be before he can 
have been elected? 

A. Thirty years old, and if not born in the 
United States, he must have been naturalized nine 
years before he can be chosen to the office. 

Q. Can the Senators ever sit as judges? 

A. They can ; and when any civil officer, from 
the President downward, is guilty of a violation of 
his public duty, he may be accused by the House 
of Representatives, and tried by the Senate. The 
accusation is called an impeachment, and none can 
bring an impeachment but the House of Represent- 
atives, and none can try one but the Senate. 

Q. Who presides in the Senate during the time 
of an impeachment? 

A. The Chief Justice of the United States. 

Q. Is it proper that the highest officer in the 
country should submit to a trial? 

A. In some governments it is said, "the King 
can do no wrong," but in this country no man's 
official greatness raises him above the law, and this 



30 

constitutes its glory. He who observes and honors 
the laws of his country is its friend, and a patriot ; 
he who violates and disobeys them, is its enemy, 
and helps to destroy our very freedom and happi- 
ness. 

Q. With what power does the constitution in- 
vest Congress ? 

A. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and 
excises. 

Q. Explain these terms. 

X A tax means a sum ef money which the 
people are directed to pay for the support of the 
government, and defence of the country; duties 
are sums of money which must be paid by persons 
who bring goods of any kind from another country 
into this, and are payable at a place called the cus- 
tomhouse, and that money is deposited in the 
Treasury of the United States ; imposts are sums 
of money which must be paid to Government by 
persons owning vessels, and is charged in propor- 
tion to their size ; excises are sums of money which 
must be paid to the Government by persons who 
make certain articles within the United States, in 
proportion to the quantity, or the value of the arti- 
cles manufactured. 

Q. How are direct taxes apportioned among the 
several States included in the Union ? 

A. According to their respective numbers, which 
shall be determined by adding to the whole of free 
persons, including those bound to service for a term 
of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three 
fifths of all other persons. 

Q. Are taxes, &c, necessary? 

A. Certainly, a Government, no more than a pri- 
vate family, can exist without money ; and taxa* 



40 

tions are the proper way of obtaining it. All re- 
ceive the benefit ; for if men would refuse to pay 
just taxes, how could a Government support armies 
and navies ? how could it pay for making, or for 
executing laws? how could it maintain justice, 
safety, and order ? 

Q. Has Congress any more power ? 

A. It can borrow money on the credit of the 
United States, and such money is called a loan. 

Q. How is that transaction of borrowing and 
lending done ? 

A. The lender of the money receives a printed 
paper acknowledging that such a sum has been 
lent, and promising to pay a small sum yearly, as 
interest for the use of it ; and that printed certifi- 
cate is called stock, which piece of paper may be 
bought and sold the same as any other article. If 
said printed paper promises to pay six dollars a 
year for every hundred borrowed, it is called "Uni- 
ted States six per cent, stock f if it promises to pay 
four dollars a year for every hundred, it is called, 
of course, " United States four per cent, stock." 

Q. Has Congress any other power? 

A. Yes : it can coin money, and fix the value of 
the coin ; it can declare one uniform size for the 
weights and measures used throughout the United 
States ; it can establish postoffices and postroads ; 
it can grant patentrights and copyrights ; it can 
erect courts ; punish piracy ; declare war between 
the United States and any other nation ; can issue 
letters of marque and reprisal ; make rules to gov- 
ern both army and navy ; and has power to do 
many other things which plainly show, what a 
highly important and responsible situation that of 
a member of Congress is, and how judicious and 



41 

tareful the people should be, in selecting the wi- 
sest and best men in our country to fill such a dig* 
nified office as that of legislator. 

Q. Who executes the laws which Congress 
makes ? 

A. The President of the United States, 

Q. Is his power great ? 
A. The constitution has vested him with great pow- 
er and patronage ; and it is the most honorable, 
exalted, and responsible station in the gift of the 
people, and one which requires its possessor to be 
adorned with the highest intellectual powers, 
great experience, and, above all, with incorruptible 
integrity and moral worth, and able to say — No, 



CHAPTER IL 
ON THE VALUE AND ENDS OP GOVERNMENT, 

Question. What does the word Government irri- 
ply? 

Answer. A certain amount of restraint, or the 
resignation of just as much liberty as is necessary 
to attain it. 

Q. What is the end or design of Government? 

A. The liberty, security, and happiness of the 
citizen. 

Q. Whether were governments instituted, for the 
happiness of the many, or for the benefit of the 
few ? 

A> For the happiness of the manv. 
4 



42 

Q. In what consists the true foundation of gov* 
ernment 7 

A. In the choice and consent of the people. 

Q. Is not some species of government essential 
to the well being of mankind ? 

A. Yes, and submission to some species of gov- 
ernment is consequently a duty. 

Q. Is there any form of human government ab- 
solutely perfect ? 

A. There is no form of human government 
which is not incident to some peculiar class of 
evils, but some forms are much less so than others. 

Q. Why do men regard it necessary to unite in 
political society? 

A. To guard against injury from others — for 
were there no injustice among mankind, no pro- 
tection would be necessary, and then every man 
might be left without restraint or control. 

Q. What kind of government is it, that is expo- 
sed to the greatest perils ? 

A. The freest, and if it does not work well, it 
must work worse than others. 

Q. What does our form of government pre-sup- 
pose? 

A. That the capacity of self-government is com- 
mensurate with the right ; consequently the gov- 
ernment is fit for us no longer than we are fit for it. 

Q. What is the theory of our form of govern- 
ment in regard to the electing of legislators? 

A. That the people are wise enough to choose 
proper men for their representatives. 

Q. What important right has every American 
citizen ? 

A. He holds the important right of voting who 
shall be his legislators ; it is a high privilege, but 



43 

as dangerous in the hands of an enlightened and 
corrupt people, as deadly weapons are in the hands 
of a madman. 

Q. Who forms the very life blood, and vivifying 
spirit of the body politic 3 

A. The people : and it is only as they are wise 
and virtuous, that a nation will become great or 
happy. 

Q. What is a sacred and fundamental principle, 
in all republican forms of government? 

A. That all should be ruled by a majority. 

Q. But is it a thing to be taken for granted that 
a majority can do no wrong or foolish thing? 

A. The fact is, the doings of a mere numerical 
majority will never be a whit wiser or better, than 
the wisdom and virtue of the individuals who com- 
pose that majority ; and a majority should never 
forget that its will, to be rightful, must be just and 
reasonable. 

Q. In connexion with this subject, what is of 
the greatest importance to the permanent welfare 
of our country where the right of voting is open 
to every citizen ? 

A. That every one who enjoys such an invalua- 
ble right, should have his mind properly enlighten- 
ed, to enable him to ait conscientiously,, and from 
high and patriotic motives, and use his privilege 
as one who is responsible to his country, and his 
God. 

Q. In what consists the real danger to every 
free government ? 

A. Its real danger is to be dreaded, not so much 
from its enemies, as from its friends. 

Q. To preserve the grandeur and dignity of our 
free institutions, what is absolutely necessary? 



44 

A. It is absolutely necessary, not only that our 
youth be well instructed, and taught to obey their 
parents, and submit to the wisdom of superior 
years, but that attention should be paid to the in- 
struction of the working classes of the community; 
for they being the most numerous, powerful, and 
important portion of the community, a nation must 
therefore become powerful and important just as 
their knowledge is increased, and their virtues 
formed. 

Q. What, after all, is the most useful property, 
and far the most valuable that a nation, or any 
community, can possess? 

A. Experience proves that the most valuable is 
that which is invested in Schools and Churches ; 
and while it is doubtless necessary for national de- 
fence, that a government should have at its com- 
mand fleets, armies, and money, but still, the real 
strength and glory of a nation is in the knowledge 
and virtue of the people ; and the schoolmaster 
and the preacher, who faithfully discharge their 
important duties, increase that knowledge and vir- 
tue, and, consequently, the moral strength of the 
nation. 



CHAPTER III. 

ON THE SUPPORT WHICH CHRISTIANITY REN- 
DERS TO CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 

Question. What are civil institutions? 

Answer. They are voluntary associations, of 
which the sole object should be to promote the 
happiness of the whole. 



4S 

Q. Does Christianity render any support to these 
ins:itutions ? 

A. It does ; and in doing so, it has not only left 
our civil rights unimpaired, but has clearly defined 
the character, and, in general, the duties of those 
who rule, and those who should obey. 

Q. In what part of the inspired volume are the 
passages to be found which enjoin obedience to the 
powers that be ? 

X They are to be found in the 12th chapter of 
Romans, the 3d chapter of Titus, and 1 Peter, 2d 
-chapter. 

Q. What was the design of the apostle Paul in- 
sisting, in his epistle to the Romans, that every soul 
be subject unto the higher powers ? 

.4. It was to meet and remove the false, but fa- 
vorite notion of the Jews, that they, as the peculiar 
people of God, were exempted from subjection to 
heatheu rulers, and from paying them tribute. 

Q. Did our Savior, as well as Paul, discounte- 
nance that favorite notion of the Jews? 

A. Yes ; when the malignant Pharisees con- 
ceived the plot of entangling him with political 
affairs, he delivered, in the sentence that confound- 
ed his enemies, one of the most sublime and im- 
portant precepts of universal practical application 
that the human mind can conceive : " Render ,said 
he, unto Ccesar the things which are Cesar's, and 
unto God the things that are God's" The passage 
will be found in Matthew 7 -, 22d chapter, 15 — 24, 
and is Well worthy of consideration. 

Q. Is there any privileged order that can claim 
exemption from this statute of high Heaven? 

A. None, on any ground whatever; for however 
exalted in rank, and whatever office we may hold 



in church or state, we are bound, in everything 
lawful, to render obedience. 

Q. Is the nature of the obedience we are to ren- 
der to civil government pointed out in the sacred 
writings ? 

A. Yes; we are taught, not only to obey civil 
government, but that obedience to the state is a 
duty binding upon the conscience, and to be prac- 
tised from a regard to the will of God ; " it is to be 
a subjection, not only for wrath, but also for con- 
science sake." 

Q. What qualities must our obedience possess? 

A. The obedience must be unreserved and uni- 
versal— extensive as are the demands of the laws 
of the land, or as are the officers by whom the laws 
are administered ; and this duty, like every other, 
must be discharged as unto God, and not to man, 
with deference to his authority, and zeal for his 
glory. 

Q. What do the passages of Scripture, above re- 
ferred to, teach us ? 

A. That civil government is an ordinance of 
God : and he who feels no interest or concern for 
its welfare, does not render unto Caesar the things 
that belong to Caesar. 

Q. Is the kind of government, and the limits of 
submission to which it shall extend, fixed in the 
Scriptures ? 

A. The Bible does not, for obvious reasons, no- 
tice the comparative merit of the different forms of 
civil polity, nor inform us which is most conducive 
to the improvement and happiness of mankind ; nor 
does it determine whether the sovereign power 
should be in one, or in many, or in what manner 
it ought to be divided in its exercise, for these be- 



47 

ing tnere human questions, are to be settled by 
mere human reason and contrivance. 

Q. Should not every Christian take an interest 
in the welfare of our civil institutions? 

A. Some appear to regard state affairs as if they 
were something necessarily diverse from religion 
as light is from darkness, fancying that the Chris- 
tian is bound to stand entirely aloof from them, or 
betray h is trust to the cause of Christianity, forget- 
ting that church and state are both institutions of 
ihe Christian's God, which, while never designed 
to be amalgamated on earth, are nevertheless, so 
mutually depending on each other, that the destruc- 
tion of the one can not be otherwise than seriously 
prejudicial to the prosperity of the other. 

Q. Is the maxim that "Religion has nothing to 
do with politics," a sound one ? 

A. If by politics is meant a sort of trading bust- 
ness, the great object of which is, first to obtain 
power by any means, and then use it for the bene- 
fit of (he individual and his friends, believing that 
11 all is fair in politics" in such a case the maxim 
is sound ; but if the term be taken in its proper ac- 
ceptation, as embracing whatever may be properly 
considered as entering into the civil polity of a na- 
tion, arranged and administered for the physical, 
intellectual, and moral advantages of its population, 
then the principles of reason, as well as the dictates 
of revelation, say that the maxim is unsound, and 
that the spirit of philanthropy and patriotism, and 
sound views on political subjects, are interwoven 
with the Christian character, and give to it beauty 
and consistency. 



m 



CHAPTER IV. 
ON THE DUTIES OF RULERS. 

Question. Are the duties which rulers are en- 
joined to practise defined in Scripture? 

Answer. Scripture speaks of them, both in direct 
terms, and by implication: and is as hostile to ty- 
ranny and oppression in the ruler, as it is to licen- 
tiousness and insubordination in the citizen ; and 
so far from countenancing anything unjust, or ar- 
bitrary, or oppressive, in governors or rulers, it se- 
verely reprobates it, reminding them that they also 
have a Master in heaven. 

Q. Should an undue stretch of power, or abuse 
of privilege, be considered very wrong on the part 
of any ruler ? 

A. Certainly; because it goes beyond the limit 
which the source of all authority, the Supreme 
Moral Governor of the world, has delegated to his 
servants ; — because it tends to subvert the true in- 
terests of society, and the ends of just government ; 
— because it is at variance with the law which en- 
joins us to do unto others, as we would wish others 
to do unto us; and because it is expressly forbid- 
den by the sovereign Judge, at whose tribunal, both 
u rulers and ruled" must give an account. 

Q. What is th^ first qualification required of ev- 
ery ruler, or man in public office ? 

A. It is certainly the duty of every one who is 
elevated from a private to a public station, to be 
among the number of those who fear God. If it 
be the duty of all to love and reverence the crea- 



49 

tor and ruler of the world, and supplicate his favor 
and protection, it is especially the duty of those who 
are elevated from a private to a public station, to do 
so : and they give the best and only sure pledge, 
that their, talents, however splendid, will be em- 
ployed beneficially ; and that, in place of seeking 
the advancement of their own interests, they will 
sincerely aim at promoting the real good of the 
public, and of the country. That people must be 
very corrupt, indeed, who could not love and es- 
teem a pious ruler, and such could not fail to be 
an eminent blessing to those over whom Provi- 
dence has placed him. 

Q. What other qualification should a ruler pos- 
sess ? 

A. He should be a just man ; one who respects 
the rights of others, and who feels the criminality 
of violating them — for the Supreme Ruler of the 
universe sriys — " He that ruleth over men ?nust be 
justP 

Q. How will he manifest his justice ? 

A. Is he a legislator? Justice will be the found- 
ation of the laws which he enacts. Is he a judge ? 
His interpretations of the law, and his decision?, 
will be impartial and just. He will do no unrigh- 
teousness in judgment ; nor will he respect the 
person of the poor, or honor the person of the 
mighty, but in righteousness will he judge his 
neighbor. Is he intrusted with the executive gov- 
ernment? He will faithfully, and in conformity 
to the Constitution, perform the duty assigned him. 

Q. Should the mind and heart of a ruler be en- 
larged and warmed by benevolence? 

A. In the exercise of an enlarged benevolence, 
he will look to the good which he may b« the 
5 



go 

linearis of accomplishing, not only to the present, 
but to future generations. If a good man, he will 
regard himself as the servant of God, elevated to 
his high office for the purpose of administering jus- 
tice, and advancing the good of his fellow-creatures, 
and the blessings which will flow from his integri- 
ty and uprightness, will lead others to regard him 
in this amiable character. 

Q. How will a good ruler administer the law? 

A. Hevvill temper it with mercy. The' wrongs 
of the people he will, if possible, prevent, and al- 
ways hasten to remove ; and, in imitation of that 
God, whose goodness extends unto all, and who 
delights in diffusing happiness around him, will 
he employ his power, and endeavor to extend the 
influence of pure and undefiled religion, by which 
alone the virtue and happiness of man can be ef- 
fectually promoted. 

Q. Should a ruler respect the lawsof his coun- 
try, not only generally, but in every particular ? 

A. He ought in all that relates to his own official 
conduct, and in whatever affects the rights of oth- 
ers. On every principle, he is bound to show the 
greatest deference to the laws of his country, and 
should therefore be well acquainted with the con- 
stitution, which should be his guide. 

Q. What was enjoined upon the king or ruler 
of Israel ? 

A. In Deuteronomy, 17th chapter, 19th and 20th 
verses, are these words : " It shall be that when he 
sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he 
shall write a copy of this law in a book, and it 
shall be with him ; and he shall read therein all the 
days of his life ; that he may learn to fear the Lord 
his God, to keep all the words of this law, and 



51 

these statutes to do them; that his heart be not 
lifted up above his brethren ; and that he turn not 
aside from the commandment to the right hand, or 
to the left." 

Q. What duty is particularly binding upon a 
ruler or man in authority '} 

A. He is bound to exhibit a good example. As 
a a man he ought, in his private character, to be 
blameless ; to be a pattern in his obedience to the 
laws of God, and of man ; and to lead others by 
the silent, but powerful influence of his virtue and 
example, to honor God, and to keep his command- 
ments. 

Q. In what should he be particularly regular? 

A. He should be regular in the observance of 
his duties to God, in public and in private ; in re- 
vering his name and ordinances ; in remembering 
and sanctifying the Sabbath, and, generally, in 
practising the " things that are true, and just, and 
honest, and lovely, and of good jreport, if there be 
any virtue, and any praise." 

Q. What is likely to follow from a ruler so con- 
ducting himself? 

A. He will, in this way, render his elevation a 
public blessing ; the means of checking vice, and 
of encouraging and diffusing virtue ; and, in the 
language of an inspired writer, "His eyes shall be 
upon the faithful of the land that they may dwell 
with him ; he that walketh in a perfect way shall 
serve him ; he that worketh deceit shall not be in 
his house ; he that telleth lies shall not tarry in his 
sight/' 

Q. Are good and just rulers a great earthly bles- 
sing ? 



62 

A. Yes ; for when God denounced judgments 
against ancient Israel, he threatened them with the 
removal of such rulers from all the departments of 
the government. 

Q. In what part of Scripture is that fact stated? 

A. In Isaiah, 3d chapter, where the Prophet 
says, "Behold the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth 
take away from Jerusalem, and from Judah, the 
stay and the staff: the whole stay of bread and the 
whole stay of water : the mighty man and the 
man of war: the judge and the prophet, and the 
prudent and the ancient : the captain of fifty, and 
the honorable man, and the counsellor, and the 
cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator. And I 
-will give children to be their princes, and babes 
shall rule over them. And the people shall be op- 
pressed, every one by another, and every one by 
his neighbor." 

Q. Why should a ruler be a good man ? 

A. Because the higher a man is exalted above 
others in power, the more he should excel in virtue 
or moral goodness : for this reason Cyrus said, 
" No man ought to govern who was not better than 
those he governed." 

Q. What falls naturally within the province of 
a civil ruler? 

A. The administration of justice ; the protection 
of property, and the defence of every member of 
the community from violenee and outrage, by the 
powers vested in him by (he people, whose will 
rulers are appointed to execute, not to oppose ; and 
to manage the public, not to pursue any private or 
particular interests. 

Q. Is it to be understood that all the existing 
authorities in the nation are to lie at the mercy of 



53 

the people, liable to be displaced by the first breath 
of public discontent ? 

A. By no means ; rulers, and men in public of- 
ficial situations, are to be respected and obeyed as 
interpreters'of the public will ; till they are set aside 
by the unequivocal voice of the people, they are a 
law to every member of the community, and to re- 
sist them is rebellion. 

Q. Are the obligations of Christians to civil 
rulers sufficiently insisted upon from the pulpit, or 
the press ? 

A. Although the duties inculcated by the pre- 
cepts of our Savior, to render unto Caesar the 
things that are Caesar's, are clearly exhibited in the 
inspired volume, and enforced by the most author- 
itative sanctions, it is to be feared that the obliga- 
tions of Christians to civil rulers are not often 
enough brought before the minds of the people, 
notwithstanding the intimate connexion of the ob- 
servance of the duty with tke very existence of the 
church militant, and civil society. 



CHAPTER V, 
ON THE DUTIES OF RULED. 

Question. Does the welfare of a nation depend 
entirely on the refined wisdom of the few whom the 
people have empowered to act as rulers ? 

Answer. By no means ; its welfare depends greatly 
upon the mcrals and principles — upon the good 



54 

sense, and good conduct of the many — upon the 
enlightened and active patriotism of the whole 
body of the ruled — determined, as they should be, 
to preserve the noble feelings — the proud and vir- 
tuous sentiments, that guided our forefathers in the 
Revolution: all which, maybe characterized by the 
single word — Washington. 

Q. When a nation forms a government, wheth- 
er does it place wisdom ov power in the hands of a 
ruler ? 

A. It simply places power, and the concern of 
the ruler is only with those objects on which power 
can operate. 

Q. What is meant by the term authority, as ap- 
plied to a ruler ? 

A. As distinguished from force, it signifies a 
right to demand obedience; and disobedience to a 
ruler, possessing lawful authority, is of course, crimi- 
nal. 

Q. Are we bound by many ties, to support and 
defend the government under which we live ? 

A. Asa legacy bequeathed to us by our fathers 
we are ; and a sense of the great importance of a 
faithful discharge of our obligations to the govern- 

*5 O c5 

ment can not be too deeply impressed upon our 
minds. 

Q. Are these obligations numerous ? 

A. Yes ; and the Scriptures, by enforcing them 
by all the sanctions of religion, strengthen greatly 
the bonds of civil society. 

Q. What duty does Christianity inculcate on ev- 
ery citizen ? 

A. The duty of obedience to rulers ; and this 
duty is enforced by far higher motives, and on much 
surer grounds by divine revelation, than it is pos- 
sible for unaided reason to suggest. 



So 

Q. Are the disciples of Christianity required to 
regard the existing authorities, as appointed by 
God, without any inquiry as to their origin ? 

A. Yes ; and to give them the prompt and uni- 
versal obedience due to Him, whose will they ex- 
press, and whose benevolent designs they are in- 
tended to promote. 

Q. How does Christianity represent rulers ? 

A. It represents them as the servants of the naost 
high God, and exercising, in the discharge of their 
office, a power delegated to them by the Sovereign 
Ruler of all things; which circumstance should se- 
cure to the ordinances of civil government, a faith- 
ful observance, as the authority comes from God, 
and should, therefore, influence the conscience of 
him who is called upon to obey. 

Q. What advantage accrues t© society from the 
fact that obedience to magistrates, and all in au- 
thority, is enjoined in the Scriptures of truth? 

A. Obedience being enjoined by the authority of 
God, a provision is made for the order and stability 
of society — thereby making disobedience to lawful 
authority a sin equal in aggravation, to a trespass of 
the law of God, and consequently binding the citi- 
zen to obedience, by far greater penalties than it is 
in the power of man to inflict — even the pains of 
God's displeasure. 

Q. Are the particular duties which we owe to 
our rulers, and the manner in which these duties 
ought to be performed, specified in the Scriptures? 

A. They are clearly specified; and the Christian 
patriot knows, that, in performing the duty of obe- 
dience to " the powers that be," he is required to 
have the authority and glory of his God constantly 
ill view ; and to consider rulers and magistrates $g 



56 

entitled to his subjection, not because they have 
greater power than he, but because they are the of- 
ficers and servants of the King Eternal, and rule by 
his commission. 

Q. Should rulers be viewed in such a light? 

A. Unless we do so, we wrong Him whose ser- 
vants they are, just as much as we would wrong 
the nation, to whose ambassador or minister, we did 
not render proper respect, who had exhibited his 
commission. 

Q. Are citizens at liberty on account of the 
vices of their rulers to forget the dignity and au- 
thority of their office? 

A. No : nor are they in the slightest degree, in 
consequence of these personal sins, exempted from 
obedience to the laws of the land. 

Q. Are citizens at liberty, on any principle of 
Christian duty, to speak evil of their rulers, or to 
bring railing accusations against them? 

A. While they may cautiously and prudently 
exercise their judgment on their public conduct, 
they are "to speak evil of no man," to be no brawl- 
ers, but gentle, showing all meekness unto all 
men. 

Q. Are we at liberty, according to the Christian 
law, to wish evil in our thoughts even to our ru- 
lers, under a mistaken impression as to the utility 
of their measures ? 

A. Solomon says, " Curse not the king, no not 
in thy thoughts : for a bird of the air shall carry 
the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the 
matter." 

Q. What duty are Christians enjoined to perform 
toward their rulers ? 



A. To pray constantly and heartily for them. 
" I exhort," says the Apostle Paul, "that first of all, 
supplications, prayers, and intercessions, and giving 
of thanks, be made for all men ; for kings, and for 
all that are in authority ; that we may lead a quiet 
and peaceable life, in all godliness and honesty. 
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God 
our Savior." 

Q. Would any advantage be gained if we would 
comply heartily with the injunction of the Apostle 
Paul? and pray for all that are in authority ? 

A. There is no doubt the disposition of mind 
and state of heart required in offering supplica- 
tions, prayers, and intercessions, and in giving of 
thanks before the throne of the Almighty, (if not 
discharged as a mere form or as a customary peti- 
tion) would be as favorable to our own happiness, 
as to the peace and harmony of society : and ow- 
ing, as we do, gratitude to our rulers for the bles- 
sings which, under Providence, we enjoy by their 
government, the n giving of thanks" to God for 
our privileges, enjoined by the Apostle, is peculiar- 
ly becoming. 

Q. Does the spirit of Christianity require us to 
cherish this kind and grateful feeling toward all 
magistrates and rulers in our land? 

A. It does ; and we should be more disposed to 
cherish grateful feelings toward our rulers did we, 
for a moment, consider the advantages resulting 
from any government, even the worst, rather than 
anarchy. Under every government property is, in 
a greater or less degree, protected, and industry 
encouraged, while, from anarchy, universal ruin 
would be the consequence : neither life nor prop- 
erty would be safe, 



58 

Q. What construction are citizens bound to put 
on the conduct and measures of their rulers? 

A. The most candid and charitable ; rulers are 
but men, and, with the very best intentions, are lia- 
ble to err : and he knows very little of man who 
expects a human being to be exempted from this 
liability. Besides, it is a duty which we owe to 
all men, not to judge them rashly, or with asperity; 
and it will be found to be generally true, that he 
who is most ready to find fault with the conduct 
of others, and is very censorious, is himself the 
most faulty, and should at least be suspected. 

Q. Is there any form of government on the face 
of this earth that can save sinful beings from dig- 
tress or calamities? 

A. There is no doubt that form of government 
is most pleasing to the eye of the Supreme Being 
which imparts the most happiness to his creatures, 
but whoever believes in man's aposiacy from his 
Creator, and consequent corruption, can not expect 
to be exempted from sufferings in this world, or 
imagine that the very best human government can 
save man, as he now is, from trials, difficulties, and 
disappointments. 

Q. Are not men, in general, remarkably prone 
to impute the evils they endure to any cause rather- 
than to their own failings and desert? 

A. They are ; and this propensity, or infirmity, 
very naturally leads all ignorant and self-confident 
persons to suppose that some change would do 
good ; that a change, either of the form of govern- 
ment, or of the agents by whom it is administered, 
will remove all their sufferings, and convert this 
earth, on which the malediction of the Creator re§ts 3 
into a paradise of him. 



69 

Q. To whom may such individuals be likened? 

A. They may.be iikened unto those who are af- 
fected with fever, who imagine that a mere change 
of position will bring them relief, till experience 
teaches them that the disease is within; or to an 
army of cowards, who confidently ascribe all their 
disasters and defeats, not to their own cowardice, 
but to their leaders, crying out, that if they had 
had but other and abler generals, they would have 
gained the battle, and come off victorious. 

Q. When dissatisfied with government, what 
one consideration should we take into the account? 

A. We should beware of blaming man for with- 
holding from us what the righteous government of 
God has denied us ; and in place of criminating, 
or'atlempting to criminate, rulers, let us cherish 
thankfulness for the mercies we possess, and en- 
deavor to improve them. If we can not improve 
and reform the times, let the times improve and 
reform us. There is nothing easier than to find 
fault. 

Q. In what other way does Christianity strength- 
en civil government? 

A By inculcating the principles of peace, and 
inspiring a hatred to war. 

Q. Is war, in all cases, unlawful or criminal ? 

A. In too many instances the injustice of man- 
kind has rendered it necessary, but these instances 
are fewer by far than the practice of the world 
wouid lead us to suppose ; and it will be found that 
most wars have originated in pride, ambition, and 
covetousness. 

Q. Can two nations engage in hostilities with- 
out one of the party being guilty of injustice ? 



60 

A. No ; all history teaches us that war is the 
offspring and the parent of injustice and crime ; 
that it inflicts injuries — overwhelms the defence- 
less — trespasses all the rules of morality — hardens 
the heart, and tells us the awful truth, that there 
is no enemy so dreadful to man as man. 

Q. What cause will the Christian patriot or 
statesman be always prepared to advocate ? 

A. The cause of peace, and good will to men ; 
and no false principle of honor or pride will induce 
him to encourage " wars and fightings" either 
from the thirst of conquest, or the thirst of gain. 

Q. Has Christianity, with all the other benefits 
it has conferred on man, mitigated, in any degree, 
the horrors of war ? 

A. The very enemies of Christianity must allow 
that it has at least introduced humanity into the 
practice of war, and into the intercourse of civil- 
ized nations. 

Q. Does it predict a time when wars shall cease? 

A. Yes ; it tells us of a period when its efficacy 
will subdue the passions of men — when to its 
peaceful sway all rulers, and legislators, and tribes 
of the earth, shall bow — and when, according to 
its own beautiful language, its triumphs shall reach 
"from sea to sea; and from the river to the ends of 
the earth ;" when " men shall beat their swords 
into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning 
hooks ; nation shall not lift sword against nation, 
neither shall they learn war any more." 

Q. What is the whole tendency of Christianity 
connected with this subject? 

A. Its whole tendency is to form those disposi- 
tions, and enforce those principles, which naturally 
lead to the utter extinction of the arts of violence 



61 

and destruction; and no Christian patriot will lend 
his countenance to engage in war, unless it be in- 
dispensably necessary for the defence of life, liberty, 
or property. 

Q. What is the basis of all society, of all civil- 
ization, and of all virtue? 

A. It is the good will due to every individual of 
the human family, as being a part of ourselves, and 
justice and humanity in their utmost extent, are 
nothing more than the practical application of this 
great law. 

Q. What practical lesson should a review of the 
duties of " rulers and ruled" teach us? 

A. That, as intelligible and accountable crea- 
tures, we should cheerfully yield obedience to the 
laws of the Supreme Ruler and Legislature, 
whether immediately enacted by Heaven, or en- 
joined by human authority ; and to perform, zeal- 
ously, and faithfully, our duties to God, to our fel- 
low creatures, and to ourselves — thankful that we 
live under a government which protects our lives 
and property — which recognises, as sacred, the 
rights of conscience — which forms, under the bles- 
sings of the Almighty, our safeguard and defence ; 
and whose laws are the work and result of an en- 
lightened patriotism. 

Q. Have we not abundant reason to be grateful, 
as a people, when we think of our mercies and 
privileges ? 

A. When we compare our state, with that of 
some other nations, we have abundant cause of 
thankfulness to Him who has made s© great a dif- 
ferencs in our favor. 

Q. May not every true patriot learn, from the 
history of our country, what good results will flow 



62 

from steady exertions being made for the good of 
the country? 

A. Yes ; and every man who aims sincerely at 
promoting the good of his country, and of man- 
kind, has ample encouragement to persevere in his 
labors. 

Q Has the patriot a wide and varied field for 
the exercise of his benevolence ? 

A. He has : he may open new markets to the 
products of his country's industry, and thereby in- 
crease the sources of its wealth ; he may improve 
the laws, the institutions, civil, religious, or litera- 
ry; he may redress some political grievance; 
embellish a whole land, and enlighten and 
bless all who inhabit it ; and, if he can do none of 
these things, he may at least set such an example 
to all around him, by "doing justly, loving mercy, 
and walking humbly with his God," as may induce 
others, to go and do so likewise. 

Q. Has every man whom Providence has placed 
in influential situations much encouragement to be 
steadfast and immoveable in his exertions tor the 
public good? 

A. Yes : and the language of an inspired writer 
may with propriety be addressed to every one — "Be 
not weary in well doing ; for in due time ye shall 
reap, if ye faint not." 

Q. From the present aspect which our country 
presents, has the patriot much to call forth his ex- 
ertions, and to encourage him to indulge the hope 
that it will go on and prosper? 

A. There is everything to call forth his exer- 
tions ; and while there are some discouraging cir- 
cumstances, there is, at the same time, much to en- 
courage, from the fact, that through the instrumen- 
tality of benevolent societies, iyceums, mechanics' 



63 

institutes, literary and scientific lectures?, and 
seminaries for the education of our youth, our na- 
tional well-being will be maintained and preserved, 
and the intellectual spirit of the country raised 
higher and higher, by the pervading influence of 
Religion and Letters — the two great means 
of conservation. 

Q. What are some of the most useful of these 
institutions ? 

A. We have the infant school, meeting the child 
at the very threshold of life, and aiming to forna 
its character ; we have the common school, to pre- 
pare our youth for the duties of life, and to become 
good citizens ; we have the Sabbath school, with 
its teachers and books imbuing the minds of thou- 
sands of our juvenile population with that know- 
ledge which alone can " make wise unto salva- 
tion ;" we have the bible society which has publish- 
ed and circulated about 2,000,000 copies of " the 
book of Wisdom, that condemns all folly, and 
makes the foolish wise ;" we have the Home Mis- 
sionary Society, a noble institution, which is doing, 
and whic!) has done so much to light up the lamp 
of salvation in many a dark and benighted corner ; 
we have the Temperance Society, which has made 
4,324 distillers stop the work of death, 8,000 mer- 
chants abandon the sale of the poison, and saved 
thousands from a crime which unfits man for dis- 
charging any one of the functions of an intellec- 
tual, a moral, and an immortal being, and which 
for a time completely merges the faculties which 
distinguish him from the inferior animals beneath 
the nature of the brute; and we have agreaterpropor 
tion of sound evangelical preaehers to our popula- 
tion, than even Scotland, which is probably better 
supplied than any other nation— " men, ivell pre- 



64 

pared, devoted heralds of the cross ; v and all these 
noble institution^constitute a galaxy, which spreads 
a glory over our whole political and ecclesiastical 
horizon. 

Q,. How can a man, who feels that his patriotism 
is cold, inactive and languid, wake it up to life and 
activity ? 

A. By instantly going to work for the benefit of 
his country: let him, if he has not already done it, 
attach himself to some benevolent society, and pro- 
mote its interests, and his love of country will be- 
come warm and solid, strong and active ; and we 
assure him, that, in proportion as he toils and labors 
for the good of others and his country, his 
patriotism will warm, and he himself will be- 
come wiser and happier by his efforts. 

Q. In conclusion, what should [now be the 
prayer of all ? 

A. That we may possess the blessedness of that 
nation whose God is Jehovah — that we may long 
be distinguished for pure patriotism, and sound 
morality — that eur civil and religious liberties may 
be as durable as the mountains — and may the tree 
of liberty, which was planted by our forefathers, 
take deeper and deeper root, and grow as the ce- 
dars of Lebanon ; and, as an evergreen, may its 
verdure and bloom continue until time shall be no 
more. — And let all the people say Amen. 



es 



APPENDIX, 



In the oldest nation, the Jewish, scarcely any tra- 
ces can be found of the existence of that spirit 
whUh maybe denominated patriotic. As a people, 
the Jews had, no doubt, sufficient nationality and 
pride ; and a Jew, to this day, wishes to draw his 
last breath in Jerusalem, and hopes and prays, that 
his bones may crumble with the dust of the holy 
land ; but still they possessed not that patriotism 
which leads to noble and generous deeds, and the 
feeling, to have their bones laid in the land of their 
fathers, is not patriotism, but superstition. Indexed, 
since their dispersion, it is impossible they could 
be patriots, for they have had no country to love: 
and if patriotism is a sentiment inculcated by na- 
ture, and if every natural sentiment has some ob- 
ject and purpose, the Jews have been denied the 
enjoyment of the very sentiments and feelings, 
which form part of our happiness, and have there- 
by been made to suffer for their unbelief, and rejec- 
tion of the Messiah. A Jew can scarcely join with 
the poet and say : — 

" My country ! There is not in thee 
A path so bare, a scene so rude, 
As not to hare some charm for me — 
Some moss crowned rock, some lonely tree, 
Some flower that lores the solitude ; 
And poor indeed the charm must be, 
I would iiot love — if found in thee V 

6 



66 

In the early nations of the East, the feelings 
which the inhabitants had for their country can 
not be dignified with the name of patriotism. The 
people of those days were too much under the sub- 
jection of monarchs, or tyrants, to love the land of 
their birth : Semiramis herself, rather than 
Babylon — Sardanapalus himself, rather than As- 
syria— were the objects they regarded more than 
country. 

Lycurgus, in Sparta, may justly be accounted 
one of the greatest patriots of his age. Before his 
time real patriots were few in number, and even 
Orpheus, Musaeus, and some others, deserve not the 
name. As to Lycurgus, Plutarch says, " there is 
nothing in history that surpassed him for patrio- 
tism." For the benefit of his country, he travelled 
into Crete, Ionia, and Egypt, and returned to La- 
cedaemon with ail the intellectual treasures of those 
countries, and instituted a code of laws which made 
his republic the most celebrated of antiquity. As 
a patriot, Leonidas ranks high. When told that 
his army of 300 men were too small to meet the 
20.000 Persians, he replied : " My army is strong 
enough to do all that is to be done" 

His answer to the Spartan who told him that the 
Persians were so numerous that their darts would 
interrupt the rays of the sun, was no less striking, 
" We shall fight them then/' said he,"inthe shade" 
His death was an act of patriotism. 

The cry, "Who will die for Sparta?" brought 
out the two noble-minded patriots, Sperthies and 
Bulis. They were citizens of rank and eminence, 
and resolved to expiate the crime of their country 
by their death. The Spartans, contrary to the laws 
of nations, put to death some of the heralds of 



67 

Xerxes, and to atone for that act some Spartans 
must die. Sperthies and Bulis, with a devotedness 
far exceeding that of all who have died in battle, 
or on the field of glory and renown, offered them- 
selves as an expiation. From Sparta to Susa, a 
distance of perhaps eleven hundred miles, these 
two brave patriots travelled with an intent of dy- 
ing, not with arms- in their hands, but an igno- 
minious, and perhaps cruel death, to atone for an 
act which their country had committed against the 
Persians. Their devotedness to Sparta amazed the 
Persians, and the lives of Sperthies and Bulis were 
saved. 

In the usual acceptation of the term patriotism, 
Pericles may be regarded *as a lover of his country; 
that is to say, he loved it far better than any other 
country, and probably could have died to do it a 
service. He was unwearied in promoting its in- 
terests. He embellished it with many arts, protected 
it in every possible way, enriched its treasury with- 
out increasing his own fortune, and expired with- 
out having caused a single citizen to put on mourn- 
ing. The evil that he did, being actuated by am- 
bitious motives entirely, was, perhaps, more than 
the good, although the quality of his patriotism 
was as good as could be got at Athens, in those 
days. 

Socrates was one of Athens' purest patriots : for 
he who could give such philosophy to the world, 
as did the son of Sophroniscus, was more a patriot 
than if he had fought and won a hundred battles. 

Every one knows the mother of the Gracchi, 
and has heard of the inscription on the statue which 
was ordered to be erected while she was alive, 
u Cornelia, Mater Grracchorum." She had all the 



68 

spirit of a patriot when she said to her son : " Ah ! 
Gracchus, the first wound which you injlict upon 
your country pierces your mother's heart." 

Our limits will not permit us to speak of others, 
but the young student of the classics will do well 
to turn his attention to the study of the lives of 
Cineirmatus, Regulus, Cicero, and others in ancient 
times, and to the patriot Tell, Bruce, Wallace, 
Forbes, William of Nassau, Prince of Orange, 
Reinier Klaascroon, Louis 12th of France, and 
many others in modern times, who could, if neces- 
sary, have acted over and over again, the day 
which the Lacedaemonians saw at Thermopylae. 

Perhaps it may not be appropriate to allude to 
Howard. A nation presented too narrow a sphere 
for a heart which beat for the happiness of the spe- 
cies, and who devoted himself to the alleviation of 
human sufferings over the globe. 

If asked why do modern patriots not die for their 
country, as did many of the ancients, it may be 
answered that the ancients did not view suicide in 
the same light as moderns do, not having been 
blessed " with that gospel which has brought life 
and immortality to light; 55 and Christianity as strict- 
ly forbids everything like self-destruction, and 
says, u Do thyself no harm" as it enforces the duty 
of abstaining from injuring the person or life of 
our fellow-creatures. Christianity aims at the uni- 
versal brotherhood of nations, and while it enjoins 
its followers to love each other, it says to nations 
and communities of men, do the same. Patriotism, 
then, in the present day, is different from what it 
was in the days of Greece, and Rome. We may 
love our country more than we love other com)* 



69 

tries: but a Christian lovss and regards other coun- 
tries also, and rejoices in their prosperity. 

" Friend, parent, neighbor, first it will embrace, 
His country next, and next all human race." 

AMERICAN PATRIOTS. 

The country which can trace a long line of tried 
patriots must feel proud of their names. They 
can not be forgotten. Surely the exploits and sac- 
rifices of which this country, in her glorious strug- 
gle for independence, was the theatre, call loudly 
on her sons to remember the names of the illustri- 
ous men who dared the perils of the field, for the 
cause of freedom ; and the first, in the first rank 
of American Patriots, and "the first in the hearts 
of his countrymen," was the feerless Washing- 
ton: — 

"The first 



In every public duty, 

Conspicuous like an oak of healthiest bough, 

Deep rooted in his country's love he stood.'" 

To say that Washington was a pure and devoted 
patriot, is to say what the whole world knows. 
His name is a synonyme for magnanimity, liberty, 
and every heroic virtue. He possessed the very 
essence of true greatness — that spirit ot magnanim- 
ity which scorned to descend from its lofty emi- 
nence, and act for self alone. This magnanimity 
made him the patriot. In his character there seem- 
ed to be little or none of that selfishness, which too 
frequently characterizes men distinguished merely 
for greatness of action, without greatness of mtel- 



70 

Ject, and goodness of heart It was not his own 
individual destiny that occupied his thoughts ; not 
his own personal glory or aggrandizement, but the 
destiny, the glory of his country. In this was his 
greatness ; here was his patriotism. Distant gene- 
rations will pronounce his name with veneration ; 
and his memory will be cherished and reserved by 
the wise and the good, of every age and country. 

From Washington onward, we have a list of 
patriots whose memories are embalmed in our 
hearts, and whose names are for ever identified with 
our free institutions. Adams, Jefferson, Madison, 
Hancock, Sherman, Monroe, Jackson, and others, 
may be classed as zealous, public-spirited patriots. 
Supposing there might be some defects in the polit- 
ical principles or conduct of any, or all of these il- 
lustrious men, are we to impugn their patriotism? 
Certainly not. For example, Jefferson and Adams 
contended for different modes of the administration 
of the same Government, but did not contend for 
different systems. Jefferson's fundamental princi- 
ple was, to let the people have the sovereignty; 
Adams dreaded the licentiousness of anarchy, and 
was for more power lodged in the Executive. These 
differences of opinion did not, however, in the 
slightest degree, affect their patriotism. They both 
loved their country, and both rendered it the ser- 
vices of true patriots. 

That Madison was a patriot is beyond a doubt. 
At an early age he received strong impressions in 
favor of liberty, civil and religious ; and the extent 
of his information, his perfect probity, his unpre- 
tending worth, and studious habits, gained for him 
the first fruits of his maturing character. During 
the course of a long life, he contributed to the hap- 



71 

piness and glory of his country ; and when near, 
the close of it, he loved to discuss the Constitu- 
tion, to inculcate the public good, and to leave in- 
junctions upon his friends to promote his country's 
welfare. 

It is worthy of notice, and it is asserted upon 
good authority, that, while candidate for the Presi- 
dency, no one, however intimate, ever heard him 
open his lips, or say one word on the subject. Like 
others who fill public stations, he had torrents of 
calumny thrown out upon him, to which he paid 
little or no attention. 

John Hancock may be classed with illustrious 
patriots. Possessing great wealth, he was very lib- 
eral, and truly disinterested, never hesitating for a 
moment in sacrificing anything he possessed for the 
good of his country. In the year 1775, when it 
was proposed by the American officers who carried 
on the siege of Boston, to bombard and destroy the 
town, that the enemy might be driven out, Mr. 
Hancock, whose whole property was thus exposed 
to destruction, was among the foremost to require 
that no regard to his personal interest should for a 
moment obstruct the operations of the army. A 
narrow-minded, selfish man would have paused be- 
fore he determined to make such a sacrifice; but it 
is the tendency of disinterested and enlarged benev- 
olence to raise the mind above considerations of 
personal loss and inconvenience. 

The name of Roger Sherman is worthy of re- 
membrance. His merit raised him from obscurity 
to offices of trust and respectability. When the 
Jaws were passed by which the chartered rights of 
the colonies were violated, and a system of galling 
oppression introduced, Roger Sherman was among 



72 

the patriots and sages that assembled in Philadel- 
phia, and occupied a prominent position. Through 
all the difficulties of those eventful times, he stood 
firm and unwavering; undaunted, though surround- 
ed with many discouragements, fully prepared to 
suffer hardships, to ensure the safety, the honor,and 
the prosperity of his native land. In 1793 he de- 
parted this life, leaving behind him a most brilliant 
example of inflexible virtue and devoted patriotism. 
The history of his life teaches youth, that, by in- 
dustry and perseverance, every difficulty may be 
overcome, and the loftiest eminence of fame and 
usefulness gained, by all those who use the proper 
means; and he has clearly proved, that there re- 
mains no excuse for ignorance, and that virtue, 
honor, and morality, are essential to the character 
of a true patriot. Of others who have benefited 
our country we might speak, but enough has been 
said to promote the object in view, namely, to 
awaken a taste in the minds of youth, to read and 
study the character of those great men who achiev- 
ed our liberties, and framed our Constitution. 
Biography forms an important branch of education, 
by far too little attended to in our public schools; 
and to inspire our youth with patriotic feelings, 
their minds should be frequently directed to our 
early history ; to the high-souled, exalted patriots 
of the Revolution. Dr. Johnson, in his Essay upon 
Epitaphs, very justly remarks, that, " as honors are 
paid to the dead, in order to incite others to the imi- 
tation of their excellence, their principal intention 
is to perpetuate the examples of virtue, that the 
history of a good and great man may supply the 
want of his presence, and veneration for his memo- 
ry may produce the same effect, as the observation 
of his life," 



?3 

Patriots may be divided into four classes : thd 
patriotic statesman or legislator ; the patriotic sol- 
dier or warrior; the patriotic ruler or governor; 
and ihe patriotic citizen. 

To the patriotic warriors, or defenders of our 
country's rights and liberties during the Revolu- 
tionary struggle, too much praise can not be as- 
signed, for the bravery they displayed. The God 
of battles was on their side, and they came off 
conquerors. But no language can sufficiently stig- 
matize the nations, or the individuals 1 , who delight 
in war, and its ravages, and who regard it as a 
trade or profession, in which their ambition is to 
have full scope, and be gratified. The war in 
which this country was engaged was of a different 
description — it was a war of necessity ; a war of 
principle ; and a war in which the happiness of 
millions was involved, and which will for ever re- 
flect glory and credit upon the men who so suc- 
cessfully engaged in it ; and it is to be hoped, that 
the statesmen of the present day are too wise, and 
too humane, to advocate war, on any other ground 
than that which is necessary to maintain the rights 
and liberties of our country. For ages men have 
been looking upon war and carnage, as a kind of 
short cut to glory and renown, and therefore 
plunged too frequently, and too recklessly into it. 
History has recorded about ten conquerors, and 
men strong in battle, for every good, wise, just, 
quiet man, of whom she thought proper to take 
any notice. 

The world has been eulogizing and admiring- 
mere heroes and conquerors, the enemies of our 
species, sufficiently long ; and it is time we should 
begin to take a more just and Christian view of 
7 



War and its consequences. It is the heaviest 
calamity that can fall upon a people, and the con- 
queror who fights not from necessity or from prin- 
ciple, but for conquest, or gain, or personal glory, 
whose delusive splendor dazzles the unthinking 
world, is only a sublime calamity, a fiery scourge 
in the hands of Providence, with whom we can, 
have no feeling in unison, and for whose affection 
or respect no man with a well constituted mind, 
cares anything about. Burke says, it is an incon- 
testable truth, that there is more havoc made in one 
year by men, than has been made by all the lions, 
tigers, panthers, ounces, leopards, hyenas, rhi- 
noceros, elephants, bears, anxl wolves, since the be- 
ginning of the world. I think the number, says 
he, " of men now on earth, is computed at five hun- 
dred millions ; therefore, the slaughter of mankind 
amounts to upward of seventy times the number 
of souls this day on the globe." 

War is unchristian, it gratifies the worst passions 
of human nature ; and is frequently carried on 
merely to satisfy the pride and ambition of kings 
and tyrants. The greatest princes, the most des- 
potic masters of human destiny, when asked what 
they aim at by their wars and conquests, would an- 
swer, if sincere, as Frederic of Prussia answered, 
u pour favre parley cle soi" to occupy a large space 
in the admiration of mankind. 

How great is the contrast between the mere con- 
queror who dazzles by the colors of false greatness, 
and whose superiority over others seldom amounts 
to real greatness, even in the false worldly sense 
(in the true philosophical, Christian sense, scarcely 
ever) and William Penn, the benevolent founder 
of Pennsylvania. He was a patriot of a high or- 



75 

der. He delighted in contributing to the happi- 
ness and comfort of the thousands over whom his 
kind and fatherly government extended. If sim~ 
plicity of character goes to adorn man, if benevo- 
lent feelings and noble motives stamp worth, 
William Penn possessed these qualities; and no 
one will refuse to bestow upon him the name, 

patriot. 

An extract from a letter to his wife and children, 
is so full of sound views, on an important subject, 
that it deserves the notice of parents, and all friend- 
ly to education. To his wife, he says : " For their 
learning [the children's] be liberal ; spare no cost; 
for by parsimony all is lost that is saved ; but let 
it be useful knowledge, such as is consistent with 
truth and godliness, not cherishing a vain conver- 
sation or idle mind ; but ingenuity mixed with in- 
dustry is good for the body and mind too. I rec- 
ommend the useful parts of mathematics, such as 
building houses or ships, measuring, surveying, 
dialling, navigation, &c. ; but agriculture is espe- 
cially in my eye — let my children be husbandmen, 
and housewives : 'tis industrious, healthy, honest, 
and of good example. 

" A country life and estate I like best for my chil- 
dren ; I prefer a decent mansion of a hundred 
pounds per annum before ten thousand pounds in 
London, or such like place, in a way of trade." 

Every one will acknowledge that the best hope 
of genuine patriotism, is the sound and complete 
instruction of the whole body of the people — such 
instruction as will enable them to discriminate be- 
tween patriotism and demagogism, liberty and an- 
archy ; and that one of the best securities of public 
and private morals, is the cultivation of mind, and 
forming a taste for intellectual pursuits. 



76 

As a specimen of the patriotism of a private citizen, 
no better occurs to the mind at present than the late 
Stephen Girard, of Philadelphia ; whose object in 
acquiring wealth, seemed to be, to dedicate it to 
the simple, but grand purpose of founding an in- 
stitution, which would give such a moral and in- 
tellectual education to the orphan boy as would fit 
him for the active duties of life. That Girard had 
his peculiarities no one will deny ; but it answers 
the purpose of the writer, to name him as a man 
wh© inculcated the love and practice of industry, 
truth, justice, and benevolence ; and who was 
anxious that science and wisdom, and productive 
industry, should be encouraged and acquired in 
order to good citizenship, and for these reasons he 
may be regarded as possessing a patriotic spirit. 

No man held a demagogue in greater contempt 
than Stephen Girard ; and his sagacity was so 
acute, and his observation of men and maimers so 
extensive, that he could, at once, see the character 
of the man who engaged with him in a business 
transaction. His biographer informs us that he 
had certain general principles as criteria of char- 
acter ; and one of these was, never to place con- 
fidence in the qualifications of those whom party 
favoritism, or political fervor, threw up into places, 
which they never could have reached without the 
aid of faction ; and that he who seeks the extrane- 
ous force of party machinery to attain any post 
not purely political, can have no genius to reach 
it without such adventitious aid ; especially when 
a man has spent a long life without reaching to 
any eminence, and at last acquires it through the 
arts and jugglery of the demagogue. All his pa- 
triotism turned upon utility ; and he could see no 



7r 

merit but in the practical exercise of talent and 
industry, to the useful purposes of life. With his 
religious opinions we have nothing, at present, to 
do, but those who knew his habits of life, modes 
of thinking and acting, say, that the public good 
was his main object; and that he himself was sen- 
sibly alive to all the duties of a good citizen ; and 
his character, as illustrated by his actions, entitle 
us to rank him in the list of patriots, and the bene- 
factor of a city. 

Delicacy forbids the notice of many of the men 
of the present day, who, as private citizens, deserve 
the name of patriots. We could give the names 
of men, who appropriate their wealth and influ- 
ence to the promotion of their country's good ; of 
literary and scientific men, who toil and labor in the 
diffusion of useful knowledge ; of ministers of the 
gospel, who quietly and unostentatiously labor in 
their Master's vineyard, on the spot allotted them, 
feeding their people with solid food, opposing the 
popular errors of the day, and, by preaching " the 
words of truth and soberness," believe that it is 
easier for them, by so doing, to prevent ten men 
from becoming fanatics than reform one who has 
become such. But the pen of the historian will 
better recount their deeds after they have given in 
their account. If every son of the pilgrim fathers will 
act in accordance with the fine sentiment of the late 
Dr. McLeod,of New York, which we have taken for 
our motto, " I love my country — because Hove my 
God? and never separate these two affections, love 
to God, and love to our fellow-creatures, which is 
only the same virtuous affection exercised in ref- 
erence to different objects, — for strictly speaking, 

L.ofC. 



78 

it is impossible for the same individual truly to 
love God, and not love his fellow-creatures, — then 
will we be patriots; and if our forefathers did 
much for our country, let us do even more, by 
exercising our more ample privileges. 



Errata. — The word " negligence," in page 31, should read 
vigilance. 

The word "enlightened," in page 43, should read unenlightened. 
In page 69, line 14, for "feerless," read "peerless Washington." 



The Author has ready for the press- 



THE INFIDEL'S REFUTATION; 

OR, 

Tivo Hundred Answeri to the Question, 
"WHY AM I NOT AN INFIDEL? 5 ' 



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